


Endgame

by fanfics_she_wrote



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloinette is important okay, F/M, Heroes Day, Post-Episode: s02 Queen Wasp (Queen's Battle Part 2), djwifi makes smol appearance, ladrien, post-heroes day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-12-26 06:44:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 65,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18277922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfics_she_wrote/pseuds/fanfics_she_wrote
Summary: Marinette is starting to suffer from some terrible dreams. At first, it was just normal nightmares that everyone gets once in a while. Sure, it shakes you to your core, but then you remember that it's just a nightmare and you're fine.Only, Marinette's nightmares steadily get worse, and she starts to suffer in her waking hours as well, which soon become nearly twenty-four hours.And it all stemmed from a certain unfortunate incident involving a rotten blonde and the miraculous of subjection.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this book while listening to some good songs on loop that I had discovered at that time. For the most part, it was just the following two songs:
> 
> J'envioe Valser by Zazie  
> &  
> Dynasty by MIIA (PS This one gets really heartwrenching. I'll notify when it's time to rip your soul out xD)
> 
> Happy Reading!  
> (Don't forget to let me know what your thoughts are)

Tikki floated midair while she watched Marinette make a fuss of folding back her duvet, then climbing up and down the ladder multiple times. "Marinette? Are you okay?"

The teenager hummed a positive response and gave her kwami a bright smile before climbing up the ladder again and making sure the skylight door that led up to the balcony was properly closed.

"Marinette . . . what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Marinette said, a little too chirpy, as she finally got under her covers.

"Marinette," Tikki said again, "is this about Chloé getting a hold of the miraculous? I know you didn't mean to lose it, and Master Fu knows as well. You don't have to blame yourself for Chloé misusing something she stole."

"No, it's not that. It's just . . . today Hawkmoth akumatized someone with a miraculous. . ."

"Oh, Marinette," Tikki settled on the edge of Marinette's pillow, "I'll tell you the truth, Marinette. _Anyone_ can be akumatized, even miraculous owners. But you're such a naturally positive person, I wouldn't worry too much." The red kwami gave her owner a bright smile. "And I know you'll protect yourself from an akuma. Besides, this is Chloé we're talking about, she's bound to get akumatized because whatever she wants isn't happening."

Marinette smiled, but Tikki could see that something was still troubling her. "Marinette?"

"Can -- could a kwami get akumatized as well?"

Tikki paused, considering the question.

"Tikki?"

"I don't know, Marinette. I don't think so, at least. But if we can . . . don't over think it all, Marinette! You need to get some sleep or you'll be late for school tomorrow!"

Tikki was chirpy and smiling as she flew in a quick circle before settling again on a little cushion above Marinette's head, but Marinette noticed the slight fear in her kwami's violet eyes. She didn't mention it, because Tikki had already fallen fast asleep.

Shaking the morose thoughts from her mind, Marinette shuffled under her duvet and curled up to sleep. "Good night, Tikki."

When Marinette's soft snores filled the room, Tikki responded. "Good night, Marinette."

* * *

Tikki woke up as the bright sunlight filtered in through the skylight and the curtains of the windows below Marinette's bed. The light wasn't what had woken her, rather the soft moans of distress from the sleeping teenager.

"No, no . . . stop."

Tikki wondered what Marinette was dreaming about. She rarely ever had nightmares, and if she did, they usually consisted of receiving an invitation to the wedding of Adrien and Chloé. The average nightmare of a fourteen-year-old girl with a heavy crush.

"Adrien, no."

Tikki giggled softly. There was a high chance Marinette was currently objecting to the wedding.

Tikki began to reconsider her theories when Marinette looked like she was in physical pain, repeatedly uttering the word 'no', each time with more urgency. She shifted in her sleep, tossing from side to side.

Then she sat up sharply, reaching out for someone that wasn't there. "Chat!"

Wildly, Marinette looked around, recognising her bedroom and her worried kwami. "Marinette?"

The young girl shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Tikki?"

"Are you okay? What did you dream about?" Tikki hovered in front of Marinette's face, worried.

"Oh, Tikki, it was horrible, I --"

"Marinette? Are you up already?"

"Yes, Maman!"

Sabine lifted the trapdoor and smiled up at her daughter. "What a pleasant surprise! It's a good thing too, it looks like you're going to need the extra time."

"What?"

"You must've slept pretty wildly last night. You've snapped both your rubber bands."

Marinette's hands lifted to her hair and noticed that her pigtails were no longer there. Sleeping with them usually ensured that brushing her hair would be an easy task -- seeing as she was nearly always late. But today . . . Marinette dreaded brushing her hair.

"Come and have some breakfast, sweetie. You could do with a calm morning once in a while."

It was clear that Sabine would be waiting to walk down with her daughter.

Marinette glanced at the kwami that was hiding in the bookshelf. "I'll be in your purse," Tikki assured her owner before waving Marinette towards the trapdoor.

Tikki watched her leave with a worried expression on her little red face. Marinette had clearly been dreaming about Adrien, but if that was the case, why did she call out for Chat Noir when she jolted awake? Unless both had been present in her dream.

But Tikki couldn't shake the idea that maybe, subconsciously, Marinette knew.

* * *

 "Girl, _why_ are you watching Chloé?"

Marinette turned to her best friend. "Sorry, I was distracted and I didn't realise _where_ I was staring."

Alya gave Marinette a knowing smile. "Were you wishing you were still asleep? It _is_ a massive surprise to see you here before even the _warning_ bell."

Marinette laughed. "Very funny, Alya. See if I ever make it early to talk to you before class again."

Alya faked horror in response to Marinette's fake anger. When Nino and Adrien arrived, Alya launched into a conversation with Nino about a new story for the Ladyblog, leaving Marinette and Adrien free.

Marinette was very distracted, and her gaze soon landed on the blonde at the front of the class again. She followed Chloé as the spoilt brat walked over to her.

"What are you looking at, Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette didn't seem fazed by Chloé's attitude. "I was just wondering what things would've been like if I -- err -- if Ladybug had _given_ you that miraculous instead of you stumbling across it."

"Well, you can stop wondering because nothing would've changed."

"Somehow, I don't think so."

"You're ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous." With a huff, Chloé turned around and marched to the front where Sabrina stood.

"What did you mean by that, Marinette?" Alya asked. "Ladybug would _never_ trust that girl!"

If they had been looking, they'd have noticed Chloé glance back at them.

"I gotta say, dude, Alya's right."

"Do you really think Ladybug would have given Chloé that miraculous?"

Marinette looked at Adrien. "I don't know, but I think things _could've_ been different if she had been given the miraculous. Still, Ladybug lost it, and Chloé found it, so we'll never know."

"But what do you think? Would Ladybug trust her enough to _give_ it to her?"

Marinette looked at the teenager walking to her desk with her strawberry haired friend. Marinette didn't answer, because, at that moment, Ms. Bustier entered the classroom. Once Chloé began her presentation of her assignment, Marinette decided that she was wrong and Chloé would never be any better than she has always been.

Of course, Marinette instantly knew the Chloé on screen -- dressed in a costume version of her Queen Bee getup -- was lying when she mentioned Ladybug, but so did everyone else once they all saw Chloé again, this time dressed as Ladybug. She was quite annoyed when the fake-Ladybug praised Queen Bee like she was . . . well, like she was a queen. Chloé didn't deserve it.

Marinette leaned her head on her hand, half focused on something about fake-Ladybug saying that Chloé - _-_ _Queen_ _Bee_ \-- always cleaned up the messes she and Chat Noir made. Marinette began to daydream, but wasn't pleased when images from her nightmare resurfaced.

Ivan was the first to point out that the Ladybug on screen was fake, spurring on laughter from the class.

"Of course that's the real Ladybug!" Chloé shouted while Marinette facepalmed in clear annoyance.

Ms. Bustier took a few steps towards the blonde. "But, Chloé, could you tell me why you chose to do an assignment about yourself -- I mean, about _Queen Bee_?"

Chloé scoffed. "Well, our assignment was to choose an important person in French history, and I actually saved France. Even Ladybug said so." Chloé hit a button on the remote and her video resumed, allowing Chloé as Ladybug to continue speaking.

"Queen Bee really makes us stronger." Chloé began to speak with the fake Ladybug. "She truly is miraculous."

Alya stood up, hitting the desk lightly. "Chloé, it's so obvious that's you dressed up as Ladybug." She rolled her eyes. "You didn't even bother to match her hair colour."

Marinette remembered the time Chloé _did_ natch her hair colour -- which resulted in Marinette deciding to dress up as Ladybug.

Chloé glanced back at her presentation of Ladybug. "Uhh, she just . . . dyed her hair blonde . . . to look like me." Chloé finished confidently and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.

Which only prompted more laughter. Angry, Chloé stormed into her seat and sat down, folding her arms and slouching.

"You're all a bunch of _losers_!" she shouted over the laughter. "Except you, Adrikins," she quickly added to the blonde boy -- who wasn't laughing. Marinette just watched in bored annoyance. Why should she expect any better from the entitled brat?

"None of you deserve to see the rest of my documentary!"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Oh, what a shame," she muttered sarcastically, eyes widening when it was clear that everyone heard and began to laugh harder -- even Sabrina, who stopped when Chloé turned to face her.

"I saw you laughing with the other idiots," Chloé snapped. "You're fired!"

Sabrina began to wail. "I've betrayed my best friend!" she cried, dropping her head into her arms, hitting the desk hard.

"How could you _not_ laugh, Sabrina?" Alya asked. "The whole superhero sitch is totally gone to her head." With that, Alya brought up the video of Ladybug confronting Queen Bee about causing the train problem.

"She wasn't the hero," Alya said, gesturing to the TV. "It was Chat Noir and Ladybug!"

"She had superpowers for like five minutes and went _totally_ out of control," Alix said.

"We might not _deserve_ to see your documentary," Marinette said, air-quotes on deserve, "but you don't deserve to be called a superhero."

Chloé hit her desk with a clenched fist. "WHAT?! You will pay for your insulting remarks, Dupain-Cheng!"

"Calm down now, students," Ms. Bustier said in an attempt to fix the situation before someone got akumatized.

"This is ridiculous!" Chloé shouted as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"Chloé," the teacher called, "class isn't over."

"You're all ridiculous," Chloé said, gesturing to everyone around her. "Utterly ridiculous!"

Marinette watched as Chloé left the classroom with an impasse look on her face. "Guess I was wrong," Marinette said, leaning her head on her arm propped up on the desk. "I don't think Ladybug would _ever_ trust her with a miraculous."

* * *

The next time Chloé was seen, it was from a helicopter with a megaphone in her hand. "Attention, losers!" She began to throw out photos that were being handed to her. "I'm heading to New York with my mom. I'm leaving you all behind in your pathetic little school and your pathetic little city. Adieu!"

Marinette watched the photos fall like snowflakes around her.

"Chloé's leaving?" Nino asked, sounding very surprised as he picked up on of the photos.

"Forever?" Nathaniel asked, glancing at Nino.

Marinette stared at a photo of Chloé. "Looks like it," she told Alya, who had also grabbed one of the photos.

"Yeah," she said.

The solemn looks didn't last very long. There was one unanimous shout of "YEAH!" from nearly everyone present as they all jumped and hugged each other -- even Mr. Damocles.

Marinette watched with a smile. "Without Chloé around, Paris will be filled with a lot less negative emotions," she told Tikki, who smiled from inside the purse.

"And less akumatization."

 _And zero_ _chance_ _of_ _that nightmare_ , Marinette thought to herself with a smile.

* * *

Adrien walked into the school and approached Marinette, who was the first person he reached.

"Hey, what's going on here?" he asked, noticing the confetti someone had thrown. "What are we celebrating?"

"Chloé's gone! She's moving to New York!" Marinette cried excitedly.

Adrien didn't look so excited. "Chloé left? For good?"

Marinette watched the other students dance and sing together. "Yeah! Isn't it _great_?"

"Uhh . . . no. I think it's terrible."

Marinette stopped clapping and her smile faded as she finally noticed Adriens expression.

"How can you celebrate a thing like _that_?" he asked, looking around.

"Oh, uh, Chloé's a total brat to everyone. She was useless anyway."

"Nobody's useless," Adrien said, looking slightly hurt on behalf of the blonde brat. "Not even Chloé. When I was little and wasn't allowed out, she was the only friend I had."

Marinette understood then that Adrien wasn't happy with what was going on. Even if Chloé was awful, Adrien had known her before that.

"Oh, well, uhh . . ." Marinette looked down. "Shoot," she muttered.

"She left angry and unhappy," Adrien said, shaking his head. "I can't celebrate that," he said sadly as he walked away.

Marinette reached out towards him, but stopped, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. Adrien was hurt.

"I'm really sorry, Adrien," she said, mostly to herself.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malediktor does not receive much attention from me

The celebration had become a full-on party, with Nino as the DJ.

Marinette, however, sat on the corner of the front steps. On the other end was Adrien. Marinette sighed. Waking up to that awful nightmare was one thing . . . having upset Adrien only made her feel worse.

For a moment, she wondered if she could focus solely on how to make it up to the blonde model, would that keep her nightmare off her mind?

Alya temporarily took her mind off the nightmare when she sat down next to her. "Come on, girl. Just 'cause Adrien's bummed out, doesn't mean you have to be too."

The two girls glanced across the room to the boy sitting on the second step.

"Yeah, but I think I was a bit harsh to her earlier," Marinette admitted, thinking of the blonde menace. "What if Adrien's right and Chloé isn't just a brat?"

Alya rolled her eyes as she leaned back, propping herself up with her elbows resting on the top step. "What else could she possibly be? A super-brat, maybe," she added with an amused grin.

Marinette rested her chin on her knees. She didn't get a chance to respond, because the sound of a helicopter grabbed everyone's attention. They all looked up to see a man in a nearly all-blue costume standing on the ledge of the helicopter.

"By the power vested in me," he began, raising his arms as a giant, glowing ball of energy formed above his head, "I declare this school a demolishing site!"

He hurled the ball down into the courtyard and Marinette and Alya stood up, lucky not to get hit. Marinette hoped Adrien was okay. The principal began the wrecking and anyone who was hit with the golden dust that came from the ball joined in.

Marinette glanced at her best friend before rushing into an empty classroom. She watched from between the doors as the newly akumatized victim walked across the courtyard.

"Where is that girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng? I have a special declaration just for her."

Marinette closed the doors and leaned against them as Tikki shot from her purse. "Looks like Chloé managed one last victim before she left Paris," the kwami said, sounding a little upset.

Marinette sighed. "Yeah, and I might be partly to blame."

"Are you sure you're ready? You still don't seem okay after whatever nightmare you had."

Marinette shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Paris needs Ladybug."

Tikki hung her head, knowing that Marinette was right.

"Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

Chat Noir landed on the wing of the helicopter.

"Hey, you! Do you have a demolition permit for this school?" he asked cheekily, folding his arms.

The blue- and gold-clad akumatized victim turned around. "I don't need a permit. I am Malediktator, the all-powerful super-mayor of Paris!" He glared at the feline hero. "And this is my city!"

Ladybug landed beside her partner. "Paris is _our_ city," she said. She began spinning her yo-yo as she got ready to spring off the helicopter wing. "It belongs to _everyone_!"

The pair of heroes launched themselves off the wing and towards the akuma-victim. They fought and fought, but it seemed to do no good. Eventually, Malediktator grabbed Chat Noir's baton and used it to launch the hero back towards the helicopter. He then lifted a bench and used it to attack Ladybug, who was quick enough to retract her yo-yo and spring backward, where she stood beside her partner.

Malediktator crossed his arms. "By the power vested in me," he said, two small, glowing balls forming above his first two fingers of each hand. "I declare your miraculous are my property!"

He uncrossed his arms sharply and the little balls of energy flew at the heroes. They dodged until they found themselves hiding behind the ledge of the roof.

"It's time we impeach him," Chat Noir said, "declare him powerless."

Ladybug's eyes studied the man's outfit. "The akuma must be in that sash," she decided before calling on her Lucky Charm for help, which only gave her an abacus.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, turning the abacus as the beads moved along the rods.

"While you figure that out," Chat Noir said, getting ready to pounce, "I'll take care of Malediktator!"

"Chat Noir, wait!" Ladybug shouted. She had just understood what the Lucky Charm was telling her, but her partner had already sprung from the rooftop.

"Catacl-!"

He stopped abruptly as a ball of golden light hit him.

"I declare that you are a cat!"

Chat Noir paused and tilted his head, then meowed before crawling around after a stray piece of confetti.

"Oh no," Ladybug muttered.

Audrey, who had taken to following her akumatized husband around after being hit herself, clasped her hands together. "Oh, what a cutie!" She held out her hand. "Here, kitty!"

Chat Noir sat back and allowed Audrey to gently scratch under his chin. Malediktator walked over -- clearly prepared to remove the ring from Chat Noir, but the cat hissed and hid behind Audrey.

Ladybug shouted for her partner, hoping he might be able to hear -- or even understand -- her. She grabbed her yo-yo, ready to jump down and defend her kitty-cat from Malediktator, but she paused when Chat Noir swiped his claws at the advancing villain.

"Kitty still has claws," she said with a smile, allowing the string to snap back. She cupped her hand around her mouth to serve as a megaphone. "Hold on, Chat Noir! I'll be right back!"

And with that, she threw her yo-yo and swung away from the school.

* * *

Master Fu dropped his abacus when Marinette threw the door open.

"Master Fu! A villain has transformed Chat Noir _into a cat_!"

The old man's eyes widened, as did his kwami's. "Perhaps you shouldn't have left him by himself. He's at Hawkmoth's mercy."

Marinette bit her lip. She was certain of what would follow. "The Lucky Charm told me to come here."

"And a Lucky Charm never fails."

Marinette closed her eyes and sighed as Master Fu opened the miracle box, exposing all the miraculous jewels to her. Her eyes fell on the golden hair comb in a yellow segment and an image from last night flicked on in her mind. She reached out for it, then drew her hand back.

"Trust your instincts, Marinette," Tikki said encouragingly.

"I don't know," Marinette said.

"Can you trust her with the miraculous again?" Master Fu questioned.

Marinette nodded. "I'm just not sure I _should_." Then she shook her head. "No, I need someone who isn't impressed by people in power. Chloé is the only person I know who would be able to help me immobilize Malediktator."

Master Fu glanced at the green kwami beside him. Wayzz shrugged. "Are you sure you want to give it back to . . . her?"

Master Fu clearly did not like the idea very much. Marinette nodded firmly, her resolve set. "I know what I need to do this time."

* * *

Ladybug found the blonde girl on her balcony. Well, to be precise, Chloé nearly ran into her before skidding to a stop and landing on her behind.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked, kneeling in front of Chloé and holding out her hands.

Chloé grabbed Ladybug's hands and lifted herself onto her knees way too quickly to be normal. "Ladybug, finally! You're going to help me, right?"

Ladybug was momentarily stunned. Then she gently pushed Chloé back so she could speak to her. "I'm fine with helping you, Chloé, but first, I need you to tell me what happened. Why is your father-- I mean, Malediktator, so mad?"

Chloé turned her head to the side and stuck her nose in the air. "It's because of this super lame loser named Marinette Dupain-cheng."

Ladybug winced but fixed her expression before Chloé saw.

"She's this horrible girl in my class --" Ladybug frowned "-- and she hates me. She's hanging everyone up against me --" Ladybug closed her eyes and took a deep breath "-- and she --"

"Maybe this Marinette girl isn't _entirely_ to blame?" Ladybug suggested.

Chloé paused. She sighed. "Okay, it wasn't _totally_ her fault. She is really mean to me sometimes, but actually, this time, Daddy got angry all by himself."

Ladybug sighed. She wanted Chloé to admit to her mistakes. If she could do that, she could make Chloé see the error in her ways and she might be able to make the girl a better person.

And if that happened, Marinette wouldn't have to worry about her nightmare becoming real.

" _All_ by himself?" Ladybug asked, leaning towards the spoilt teenager.

"Yeah," Chloé said, avoiding eye contact with the spotted heroine. "Because there was something he couldn't do."

Ladybug put her hand on Chloé's shoulder.

"Chloé, it's me, _Ladybug_. You can tell me the truth."

Chloé looked up at her idol with an expression Ladybug couldn't quite decipher.

(That might be because Ladybug had never before seen a remorseful look on Chloé's face before.)

"I -- I . . ."

Ladybug nodded encouragingly. "Mmhm."

Chloé closed her eyes, dropping her head. "It was me," she admitted. "I hurt my daddy's feelings because I want to leave Paris forever."

Ladybug was stunned to see the tears in Chloé's eyes, but she masked it expertly.

"Because of what happened in school?" Ladybug asked. She glanced around before looking at Chloé. "I'm sure Marinette probably didn't mean exactly what she said."

"It's not her," Chloé said in a voice that very nearly stabbed at Ladybug's heart. "Actually, I don't even care about her," Chloé added, glancing down. "It's because I have no reason to be here. Nobody likes me, I have no friends, I'm . . ." Chloé's voice broke. "I'm useless."

Ladybug paused. She had no idea Chloé felt that way. Perhaps her aim should be to show Chloé how to belong instead of retaliating every time she did something . . . something Chloé-like.

"A friend once told me that nobody's useless," Ladybug said, putting her hand back on Chloé's shoulder.

"It's easy for you to say that," Chloé said, wiping away at a tear that threatened to fall. She sniffed. "You're _Ladybug_ , a superhero." She folded her arms and tried to curl up on it herself. "You serve a purpose."

"Yes, I can fix up all the messes. You said it yourself in your documentary."

Chloé's head snapped up, her bright blue eyes wide. "You _saw_ it?"

Ladybug nodded.

Chloé hid her face in her hands. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed! That film's ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous! I realise that now."

"Don't worry, Chloé," Ladybug said as she stood up. "You can fix your own messes if that's what you want."

Ladybug took Chloé's hand and pulled her up with her.

"You too can serve a purpose --" Chloé's has dropped "-- but you have to _want_ to."

"I do want to," Chloé said, wiping her eyes.

Ladybug smiled. Perfect!

She stepped back and held out a familiar box to the blonde.

"Chloe Bourgeois, here is the bee miraculous, which grants you the power to immobilize your opponent. You will use it for the greater good," she said, nodding firmly.

With a hopeful smile, Chloé opened the box, allowing the striped, yellow kwami to materialise from her bright golden glow. "At your service, my queen," Pollen said.

"Once the job is complete, you will return the miraculous to me," Ladybug said. "Can I trust you, Chloé?"

The blonde nodded as she slipped the comb into her hair. "I won't disappoint you this time, Ladybug."

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Queen Bee was amazed. Here she was, running alongside her idol -- _f_ _ighting beside Ladybug_!

Ladybug was amazed. Here she was, trusting a girl she thought to be her mortal enemy -- trusting her to _help save Paris_!

"I've always dreamed of doing this," Queen Bee said, looking Ladybug while they ran across the Paris rooftops, "with you!"

"We have to work together as a team, all right, Queen Bee?" Ladybug said, smiling at the yellow and black heroine.

Queen Bee nodded with a wide smile. "Yes, yes, don't worry, I've been practising since forever."

Ladybug grabbed her arm and yanked her to the side in time to avoid colliding with a chimney.

Queen Bee smiled again at Ladybug as they ran before the spotted heroine sped up and Queen Bee gladly followed her.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Queen Bee and Ladybug arrived in front of the Hôtel de Ville, where Malediktator sat outside, right at the top, surrounded by the police guards.

"Here's the plan," Ladybug said, before Queen Bee stood up and waved her hand in the air.

"Here I am, Daddy!" Ladybug made a rather funny sound of discontentment. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings the way I did. Stop all this nonsense at once!"

Audrey suddenly sat up. "My honey-pie looks so pretty in that suit!"

"Ugh!" Chloé grumbled, "and _please_ put mom back to normal, I can't bear to see her like this." She folded her arms and lifted her head into the air. "Your powers are ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!"

Once again, Malediktator sent two cursed bubbles to try to force Ladybug and Queen Bee to hand over their miraculous. The heroines dodged the bubbles while simultaneously trying to get past the guards to Malediktator.

Until the akuma victim raised his hands into the air. "By the power vested in me, I declare you all _my slaves_!"

"That bubble's going to be a tough one to dodge," Queen Bee said, glancing at the ball of energy that was nearly as large as the building her father stood atop.

"He's going to take over the whole city!" Ladybug cried.

The pair of heroines launched into the air. Ladybug threw her yo-yo and Queen Bee let her spinning top fly. Neither weapon got past the guards, but at least the giant bubble hadn't been released.

The pair of them ducked behind a stone balcony.

"You need to get past those guards," Ladybug said before standing up tall and calling on her Lucky Charm.

A machine gun nearly bigger than both heroines dropped into the arms of Ladybug.

"Well, that's an effective Lucky Charm," Queen Bee said.

She was once again filled with the feeling of awe as she watched -- up close! -- Ladybug figure out what she was supposed to do.

Queen Bee was surprised when Ladybug removed one component and pushed the gun away. "No way I'd use one of those."

Queen Bee glanced at the discarded weapon. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you just need to take the sting out," Ladybug told her with a grin and a wink.

Queen Bee nodded firmly. "Venom!"

Her right fist soon found itself enclosed within a pulsing bubble with a sharp stinger, ready to immobilize someone.

"Focus on Malediktator," Ladybug said, "I'll deal with the guards."

Queen Bee nodded again before leaving their hiding place. Ladybug got into position and switched the laser pointer on. The little red dot caught the cat's attention and in his attempt to catch it, Chat Noir knocked down all the guards, leaving Malediktator open for Queen Bee.

"Sorry, Daddy!" Queen Bee cried as she landed right in front of Malediktator and hit him with her stinger, immobilizing him completely. She snatched his sash and turned to her hero.

"Your turn, Ladybug!" Queen Bee cried, tossing the item to Ladybug, who broke it before purifying the akuma.

"Miraculous ladybug!" the spotted heroine cried, throwing her Lucky Charm upwards, allowing a swarm of pink butterflies to sweep around Paris, fixing everything that Malediktator had done. A purple wave washed over the former villain and André Bourgeois returned.

"Aw, bummer," Chat Noir said as he landed behind the two girls. "Don't tell me I missed out on the party."

"You missed Queen Bee and Ladybug saving Paris!" Ladybug said, throwing one arm upwards. "For real, this time."

"I understand, Ladybug," Queen Bee said. "Buzz off."

The striped heroine closed her eyes as the yellow glow began at her feet and removed her costume until Chloé stood before them again, Pollen floating in front of her.

"Being a superhero isn't only about fixing messes," Chloé said as she handed the miraculous to Ladybug.

Chloé's eyes nearly popped and her mouth fell open when Ladybug offered a fist to her. Smiling, Chloé lifted her own.

"Pound it!" the girls chorused.

"Sorry, m'lady," Chat Noir said as they watched Chloé rush to her parents and drag them back home. "I feel like I was pretty useless this time around."

Ladybug put her hands on her hips as she smiled at her partner. "Actually, you were totally key in defeating Malediktator." 

"Really? Tell me all about it."

And that's when Ladybug's earrings beeped loudly, signalling that she was running out of time.

"Next time. Bug out!" she said, throwing her yo-yo and leaving before she transformed back.

* * *

"You took a big risk trusting this miraculous to Chloé Bourgeois," Master Fu said as he put the box away. He looked back at Marinette. "Do you really think she's got what it takes to be a superhero?"

Marinette smiled. "Yes, I do. Being Ladybug has made me a better Marinette, so, perhaps being Queen Bee will make her a better Chloé, too."

"That's very noble of you, Marinette," Master Fu said with a proud smile.

* * *

Chloé stopped walking abruptly when she heard a timid voice call her name.

"Dupain-Cheng?"

Marinette smiled at Chloé. She _had_ to be nice if she wanted Chloé to be nice.

* * *

"All right, I came to your stupid party," Chloé said as she walked beside Marinette, her arms folded. "Now what?"

"Look there," Marinette said as she turned around. "We're having a party in honour of the girl who saved Paris."

Chloé looked up and saw a giant poster of Queen Bee.

"Queen Bee!" Marinette said proudly.

"But . . . Queen Bee is _me_!" Chloé looked around at everyone, her hands clasped on her chest. "You're having a party for me?" she asked, scarcely believing it.

Marinette nodded with a smile.

Then Sabrina flew past her. "Chloé! I thought I'd lost you forever!" The redhead clung to her blonde friend.

"Okay," Chloé said, her hands on her hips. "No need to make a big deal about it. Besides, you're wrinkling my clothes."

"Sorry," Sabrina said.

Marinette wouldn't say it out loud, but she noticed Chloé look just slightly happy with having Sabrina hugging her. Then it was over and she was showing off a diamond-encrusted phone case.

"It was really cool of you to put this party together for Chloe," Adrien said as he walked up to Marinette.

"Well, she did save Paris, so she might be able to save herself too, am I right?"

"Rena Rouge and Carapace helped Ladybug save Paris," Alya said from Marinette's other side, "but nobody threw them a party."

"That's because we don't know their true identities," Marinette said -- quite amused because did, in fact, know. "Unlike Chloé. If she feels like she can be useful, I'm sure she'll change her attitude."

Alya gave Marinette a disbelieving look after the three of them witnessed Chloé shoo the principal away from her gleaming phone case.

"Well . . . baby steps," the teenager said, smiling slightly. "Baby steps."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has another nightmare

Tikki hovered in front of Marinette, who was sitting in bed. "So what was the nightmare about? It's constantly on your mind, so it had to have been really bad."

Marinette bit her lip. "Well, it was about Chloé . . . stealing the miraculous and when we found out, she got so upset that she managed to get akumatized again, becoming Queen Wasp for the second time. Tikki, is that even possible?"

"It's likely that if a person is akumatized again for the same or similar reasons, they could become the same villain they were before. We've seen with Chloé that people can be akumatized twice with different skill sets, like when she was Antibug and when she was Queen Wasp. But I think you're doing a great job, so we won't have to worry about Chloé getting akumatized anytime soon."

"It's not just Chloé," Marinette admitted. "Last night, I didn't have such a bad nightmare, but it was like I could hear threats from Hawkmoth, about how we're outnumbered . . . how he's going to take control of us one by one, and take our miraculous by force if he has to. Tikki, is it even possible for someone to wield more than two miraculous at the same time?"

Tikki shrugged. "If it's possible to use two, maybe someone can use more. But that person would have to be really desperate, and willing to bear the burden of however many that they use. The miraculous jewels are meant to be gifts, used for good. If someone like Hawkmoth uses more than one for evil . . ."

"But what if someone uses multiple for good? What if . . . what if I had to wear the miraculous of creation, destruction, illusion, protection, and subjection all at once?"

Tikki paused. "But _why_ would you need to? The miraculous of destruction has a permanent owner, and Chat Noir is always going to be here. And the others . . . if needed, there are three people who can wield them."

"But what if he isn't, Tikki?" Marinette asked, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, her hands wrapped around her legs. "What if . . . what if they aren't around to help me?"

"Marinette . . . what did you dream about?"

Marinette closed her eyes. "It was awful, Tikki. I can't even begin to describe it. All I know is that I really hope it doesn't happen. I didn't want to give Chloé the miraculous, because if she didn't have it, then things wouldn't happen the way they did in my nightmare. But it's all right, because Chloé isn't a permanent holder . . . so it won't happen."

"Marinette . . . try to sleep, and try to think about something nice, something you love before you sleep." Tikki frowned for a second. "Think about Adrien," she teased.

"Tikki!" Marinette wailed. She smiled at her kwami. "Good night, Tikki."

"Sleep well, Marinette."

* * *

Tikki wondered if these nightmares were going to become a common occurrence. Once again, Marinette tossed and turned, muttering a few names this time.

She nudged Marinette's arm. "Wake up, Marinette!"

It did nothing.

The teenager whimpered softly in her sleep, mumbling her best friend's name. Worried, Tikki wondered if Marinette would mind being slapped out of the nightmare.

What shocked Tikki most was when -- like before -- Marinette bolted upright, reaching out. "Rena!"

Of course, Marinette knew that Rena Rouge was Alya, she had given the girl the miraculous after all. But this only further convinced Tikki that, on some level, Marinette was aware of who held the miraculous of destruction.

* * *

Marinette buried her head in her arms and very nearly fell asleep in the classroom. She grumbled a little and lifted her head when Alya nudged her arm.

"You all right, girl?"

Marinette nodded and rubbed her tired eyes. "Yeah," she said through an unexpected yawn.

"Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Marinette nodded. She couldn't tell Alya she had been having nightmares all night. Alya would want to know what they were about, and Marinette wouldn't be able to tell her without revealing that she was Ladybug. "Yeah, I'm just tired today."

"If you say so. But if you're so exhausted, why didn't you sleep in?" Alya gave her best friend a teasing smile. "You know, like you normally do?"

Marinette smiled back. "I woke up early morning and I just couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to get ready for school leisurely and show up on time. I may have arrived a little early."

"I'll say," Alya scoffed. "But since we have time now, let me show you this footage I've got of Ladybug and Queen Bee. I still don't really like Chloé, but I have to admit she makes a good Queen Bee."

Marinette was the only one who heard the small squeal as a blonde in the doorway turned around and left before anyone noticed her pink cheeks. Marinette smiled, then focused on Alya. "Let's see this video of yours."

* * *

Marinette was just about to enter the bathroom when she heard Chloé's voice from inside. She assumed the bathroom was empty of any other girls.

"Mom, I'm telling you, I didn't do it for attention -- well, yeah, there was a party, but -- no! Ladybug asked for my help! Everything I do isn't to get everyone else's attention . . . so what if it was last week, it's still the past. Look, if you don't believe me, that's fine, but just know that for once in my life, I did something good because I wanted to, not because I expected something in return."

There was a lengthy pause, where Chloé said nothing and one of the older students gave Marinette a funny look as they passed.

"Mom! I _saved_ people! And I didn't do it so you'd think I was exceptional, I did it because I wanted to fix my -- ugh!" There was the distinct sound of a phone striking the wall -- or the mirror.

Marinette opened the door and pretended she was surprised to see the blonde there with her arms folded as she glared at her reflection. Marinette glanced at the phone that was on the floor at the far end of the bathroom. Not the mirror, then.

Chloé glanced at Marinette, who still hadn't moved towards either the sink or a cubicle. "I'm not going to get akumatized or anything, Dupain-Cheng. You can go away."

Marinette wasn't sure what to say, or if she should even say anything, so she pretended she hadn't heard a thing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The bluenette could've sworn she saw Chloé smile as she headed to pick up her phone. However, any traces of any smiles were quickly replaced with a look of disgust as Chloé studied her phone. "I cracked it, ugh."

"Don't worry," Marinette said as she headed to the sinks, acting as if she had come to the bathroom to fix her hair. "Your father will just get you a new one. Or don't you still have that diamond encrusted phone?"

Chloé gave Marinette a disgusted look in the mirror. "Don't be ridiculous, Dupain-Cheng. I can't walk around with something that blonde people. It's not practical. People won't look at me if my phone is blinding them."

Marinette at the reflection of Chloé. "I'm glad you're thinking logically."

Chloé ignored her and sighed as she glanced at her phone. She turned it over a few times before pocketing it. "Have you ever -- no, nevermind. Whatever."

Marinette watched Chloé leave with a curious expression. What did Chloé want to ask?

Marinette opened her purse so she could see her kwami. "Do you think being Queen Bee is going to help her be a better version of herself?"

Tikki nodded brightly. "I'm sure of it. After all, you said it yourself, being Ladybug has made you a better you . . . so maybe Chloé will be able to benefit in the same way."

Marinette smiled at her kwami, then at her reflection. "I hope so."

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug decides to talk to Chat Noir

Ladybug stood right at the top of the Eiffel Tower, where citizens couldn't reach -- and they shouldn't. Thanks to the power of the miraculous, her vision was extremely good, so from her perch, she could easily see the hotel, Le Grand Paris. She wondered what Chloé had wanted to say in the bathroom.

"Fancy seeing you here, m'lady."

Ladybug turned around and smiled at her partner. "I could say the same, Chat Noir."

"What brings you out here?" the leather-clad hero asked as he joined his lady at the edge, overlooking the breathtaking nighttime view.

"Just needed a place to escape to for a while, that's all. Do a little thinking. What about you?"

Chat Noir shrugged. "I was feline a little claustrophobic."

"Again with the puns," Ladybug teased with fake annoyance.

"You know you love them, m'lady."

"I think you make then to a-mew-se yourself."

Chat Noir smiled. "Your pun skills are purrfect."

"I'm _spotting_ a few flaws in your pun skills."

Chat Noir paused. "Did you just make a pun that didn't involve me?"

Ladybug raised her eyebrows. "I might have."

"I'm impressed. You're getting good at this."

Ladybug smiled and reached up to gently scratch her partner's chin -- as if he really were a cat. "And you're _kitten_ bad at _spotting_ some _pun_ -derful op- _purr_ -tunities."

"Marry me," Chat Noir said with an amused expression. "No one will _ever_ deliver a better sentence."

Ladybug laughed. "Really? I thought that was a bit overdone."

"You can never have too many puns, my lady."

The spotted heroine smiled, but she didn't say anything else. They both turned their attention back to the city before them. After a moment of silence, Chat Noir glanced at Ladybug. "You seem fidgety. Everything all right?"

Ladybug nodded, then shook her head. "No, I've been having these horrible nightmares, but I can't talk about them with anyone except my kwami, because they're all involving me actually being Ladybug."

"Hey," Chat Noir said, placing his hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "You can talk to me if you like? We haven't used our superpowers, so we definitely have more than five minutes."

Ladybug smiled, but it didn't last long. "They're horrible, Chat. I don't really want to talk about it, but I feel like I'm going to go insane if I don't. It's so terrifying. Last night was especially bad. I know Rena Rouge, without her mask, so it makes sense that I would know who she is in my dreams too. She was upset -- understandably -- that Chloé gets to be appreciated and revered as Queen Bee, but Rena Rouge can't have the same pleasure. When I tried to explain to her that it was important for her to keep her identity hidden, she just got more upset, to the point where she was furious."

"Sit down, Ladybug. You're starting to shake."

Ladybug shook her head, but she sat down next to her partner on the ledge anyway. "I'm shivering, Chat."

Without hesitation, Chat Noir wrapped his arms around Ladybug, allowing her to rest her head on his chest. "She got akumatized?"

Ladybug nodded. "I don't remember what she was called or even how she looked, but I know that the akuma was in her miraculous and that her main goal was to reveal everyone's true selves. And get our miraculous. It got so bad that I had to fetch both Carapace _and_ Chloé. And with all her illusions and mirages . . . Rena Rouge was nearly unstoppable while akumatized. Eventually, she hit Carapace with her powers. He still had all his powers and the suit, just no mask and his hood had disappeared."

"Who else did she get?" Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug shrugged. "I don't really remember much. I think she caused someone to reveal their feelings for a crush or something. And someone else admitted to his girlfriend that he wasn't in love with her. I don't know, there were some silly truths that were revealed too. One little boy admitted to his mom that he had stayed past bedtime to watch TV. A mom admitted to having pretended to be asleep so her husband would be on diaper duty. Those weren't really scary."

Chat Noir smiled. "I meant among us, Ladybug."

"Oh. Well, one thing I wish I couldn't remember about the dream, but I don't, is that when talking to Hawkmoth, she used his real name."

"Well, that sucks. Did any of us recognise it?"

Ladybug frowned. "I think so. I think everyone did, so either he's got a really famous civilian identity, or it was just my dreams."

"What about you and I? And Chloé?"

"She did get Chloé, but nothing happened. Her mask didn't even disappear."

"Maybe that's because everyone already knows that she's Queen Bee."

"Maybe," Ladybug mused. "She also got you."

"Do you see who I was?"

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah, and I remember it clearly. But I don't want to say it, because I don't want you to confirm or deny it."

"I promise I won't say a thing. I just want to know."

Ladybug shook her head. "No, it's not even plausible. Besides, I dreamt you're the boy I'm in l--" Ladybug stopped talking very quickly, but Chat Noir already figured what she was going to say.

"That doesn't sound too bad to me, m'lady."

"Chat!" Ladybug groaned. "Stop it. Anyway, I don't remember most of the fight or what my Lucky Charm was, but we came to the conclusion that we had to destroy her miraculous, and the only way to do that would be with your Cataclysm. So we hatched this grand plan and everything was going to work out perfectly. Carapace would keep Rena Rouge distracted, Queen Bee would make sure the path to her miraculous was open, and I would help you reach her."

"So what went wrong?"

Ladybug shrugged. "I'm not sure. It was all so sudden. One moment you were aimed right at the miraculous, then next thing, Queen Bee tripped over Carapace and the three of them fell over, my yo-yo caught somewhere and we fell and -- and you -- Rena tried to -- I just --"

"Hey, it's all right. It was a nightmare."

"No, but it felt so real." Ladybug pushed back and looked up at her partner. "I felt _everything_."

"Wait . . . I thought that the nightmare was me using the Cataclysm on Rena Rouge?"

Ladybug shook her head. "No, you didn't. We slipped and fell a little away from the three of them. But . . . Queen Bee's Venom hit you, and the Cataclysm took out the pier we were fighting on. Carapace used his Shellter to keep us all from drowning but I . . . I got hurt and my earrings . . . they were gone and so was Rena Rouge. Without my miraculous, there was no way we could purify the akuma if you even found Rena."

"You said you got hurt . . . did I use . . .?"

Ladybug stared at Chat Noir. "Not the Cataclysm . . . that _only_ touched the pier. I don't know how I got hurt, but it was bad and without my miraculous, I didn't have any Lucky Charm to release that would fix all the damage. And the worst part was that Hawkmoth had my miraculous."

"Listen, Ladybug, it was a horrible nightmare, but that's all it was. You don't have to worry about it happening because I wouldn't let anything hurt you or get to your miraculous. Hawkmoth will never get our miraculous, and if anyone in our group ever got akumatized, we would bring them back with no more trouble than the usual akumatized victims give us. We're a team, Ladybug, the best one out there. You're telling me you doubt our saving skills?"

Ladybug smiled at the teasing grin Chat Noir wore. She gently tapped the golden bell, making it tinkle. "You really know how to lift someone's spirits, don't you, kitty cat?"

Unexpectedly, Chat Noir meowed. "I try, m'lady."

Ladybug laughed, forgetting about her nightmare for a while. "We should get going," she whispered after a moment. "All reasons for my civilian identity being present, my kwami probably needs to be recharged."

Chat Noir furrowed his eyebrows. "How long were you standing out here?"

Ladybug shrugged before she stood up and offered a hand to Chat Noir. "About an hour. Maybe two."

"Are you . . . are you _afraid_ to sleep?"

Ladybug shrugged again. "Not really. I'm just afraid of more nightmares."

With a dramatic flair that he knew would amuse his lady, Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug's hand and knelt down to kiss it. "I hereby banish all nightmares! I will fight them with my bare hands if I have to!"

Ladybug giggled and Chat Noir smiled at his success. "Goodnight, kitty," she said, giving her partner a hug before swinging away.

Chat Noir watched with a content smile.

Someday.

Someday, he and his lady would be together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chloé become good friends  
> Sabine tries to wake her daughter from a nightmare

Marinette woke up the next morning without calling out for any of her superhero friends. Tikki was still asleep. Quietly, she lifted the hatch above her bed and made her way out onto the balcony. She stood at the edge, watching the sunrise.

Marinette wanted to talk to Chloé about what had happened in the school bathroom, but the weekend had arrived, and she would only see Chloé again on Monday. Chloé might be an awful person, but she was still a person, and Marinette and heard real hurt in her voice. Maybe if Marinette made an effort to show Chloé she belonged as _Chloé_ _Bourgeois_ and not just as Queen Bee, Chloé would better herself on her own.

Marinette sighed, dismissing the idea of visiting Chloé. Even if she felt she should be more inclusive of the blonde teenager, it was highly likely that Chloé didn't really want anything to do with Marinette.

But Ladybug, on the other hand . . .

Marinette sighed again. She'd talk to Tikki when the kwami woke. She turned around to head back inside and that's when she noticed the curled up ball of black leather on her chair, a plate of crumbs that were once cookies on the little wooden table.

"Chat Noir?"

She cautiously approached and prodded his shoulder.

"I'm awake!" he shouted, jumping in the chair and his head collided with Marinette's.

"Good to know," Marinette said, rubbing her head.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. What are you doing here?"

Chat Noir stood up, rubbing the spot on his own head that throbbed painfully. "I'm sorry, I came here late last night, but then I remembered that you were probably asleep, and then there were cookies and I --"

"It's okay, kitty cat," Marinette said with a laugh as she ruffled Chat Noir's hair. "Why didn't you go home, though?"

"Well . . . I didn't really wanna go back."

"What about your k--" Marinette stopped. She wasn't supposed to know about kwami. "What about your family? Won't they worry about you?"

"Nah, my dad isn't exactly very aware of my presence."

"What about your mom?"

Chat Noir didn't look like he was in a joking mood anymore. "She's gone."

Marinette very nearly asked where, but she stopped herself. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, princess," the hero said, going to lean on Marinette's balcony.

Marinette joined him. "Princess?" she asked with a smile.

Chat Noir smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. It's . . . cute."

"Like you."

"Aren't we feeling flirty this morning?" Marinette teased.

Chat Noir smiled, but there was a loud beeping as the first paw on his ring began to blink. "Well, I should get going. My kwami is going to kill me -- oh, you don't know what a kwami is!"

"Well, maybe you can explain the next time you come to steal my cookies," Marinette offered, giving the cat a teasing grin.

"Very funny, Marinette. I'll see you around." He gave her a two-finger salute before vaulting off the balcony.

"See you around, kitty cat."

* * *

"You want to _what_?"

"I want to pay Chloé a visit as Ladybug."

Tikki looked confused. " _Why_?"

"Why not?" Marinette countered. "I just want to talk to her. You heard how she sounded at school yesterday."

"Well, what are you going to tell your parents? If Alya comes to visit, they'll tell her you went to visit Chloé, but Chloé would say Ladybug visited her, and then Alya will figure out you're Ladybug!"

Marinette nodded. "Hmm, you're right. Maybe I won't tell them, then they won't be able to say anything to Alya. Or . . . maybe I'll tell them I'm _with_ Alya."

Tikki stared at her owner. "And when Alya shows up looking for you?"

"I'll have to ask Alya to cover for me," Marinette said, reaching for her phone.

"Marinette! You're lying to your parents? To see Chloé?"

Marinette sighed. "Unless you have a better idea, yeah."

"How about _not_ going to see the girl you called your mortal enemy not even two weeks ago?"

Marinette shook her head. "That's not an option," she said, already typing.

"Marinette . . . all right."

The teenager smiled at her kwami. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

Alya was on her way to the bakery when she got the message from her best friend.

_If anyone asks,_ _I'm_ _with you_

Alya turned around and went back home, prepared to call Marinette later and ask why.

* * *

Chloé sat outside at her fake Queen Bee display, staring at the costume.

"You're really taking admiring yourself to a whole new level."

Chloé very nearly fell off her chair at the sudden appearance of Ladybug. She stood up properly and walked towards the umbrella Ladybug perched on.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Do you need my help?"

Ladybug shook her head and jumped down to the floor. "Not today, Queen Bee. Just thought you might want to talk."

Chloé folded her arms. "About what?"

Ladybug shrugged. "Anything. That's what friends do, isn't it? Talk about stuff," she said, walking towards the seat the fake-Ladybug had sat in for Chloé's assignment. She trailed her hand over the back of the chair before pulling it out. "Well, your good friend Ladybug just dropped in to ask for some advice."

Chloé's jaw dropped. "We're . . . _friends_? _Good_ friends?"

"You said it yourself," Ladybug said with a grin.

"Don't remind me," Chloé grumbled, walking back to her chair.

The pair of girls sat down, Chloé with her chin on her hands. "What are you really doing here?"

"Well, I can't drop in on any of my other friends because that would look suspicious, but everyone already knows you're Queen Bee, so there's nothing strange about me dropping by."

"Did you want to talk about something in particular?"

Ladybug hesitated. "Chloé . . . people are going to think you're doing this for attention, but you can't really blame them."

Chloé opened her mouth to argue, but before Ladybug had to give her a stern look, she closed it again and nodded.

"All you can do is give it time. You'll see, everyone will accept you soon. I don't want you to get upset over people who don't see that you're helping. I wouldn't want my second best partner to end up akumatized again."

Chloé nodded, then frowned. " _Second_ best?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

Like he knew he was being thought about, Chat Noir dropped onto the terrace. "I'm her best partner," he said.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you were going home, Chat?"

"I met up with a friend of mine this morning and got distracted."

Ladybug's eyes narrowed further.

"Don't be jealous, bugaboo. You're the only one for me."

"I'm not _jealous_ , Chat Noir, I'm worried about you -- and your kwami."

"Aww, your concern is touching," Chat Noir said with a smile, which quickly turned serious. "But you're the one who needs to sleep properly."

"I slept fine. Now, if you didn't notice, my good friend Chloé and I were in the middle of a conversation."

"Well, don't mind me," Chat Noir said, grabbing one of Chloé's other chairs and pulling it up to join them at the table. "What are we talking about?"

Chloé sighed. "We were discussing which bra is most comfortable to be wearing before transforming."

"Err . . ."

Ladybug and Chloé watched in amusement as Chat Noir slowly turned red.

"I'm kidding," Chloé said after a moment. "Tell me something, do the two of you know who's behind the mask?"

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir shook their heads. "It is of utmost importance that we keep our identities a secret from _everyone_ ," Ladybug said.

"You've put yourself in a lot of danger outing yourself like that," Chat Noir added, "Hawkmoth now knows who you are."

Chloé scoffed as she folded her arms and crossed her legs. "Let that butterfly coward _try_ to take Pollen away from me."

"Chloé, you don't have Pollen with you."

"That's what you think."

Ladybug and Chat Noir stated at Chloé for a while before Chloé laughed. "I wish you could've seen your faces. Yours especially, Ladybug! Did you really think I would _steal_ the miraculous? I don't even know where to find it! Anyway, since you're both here now, I want to ask some questions I've always had."

"Ask away!" Ladybug said, eager to distract herself from her first nightmare.

"How long have you been in love?"

"What?" Ladybug asked.

"Forever," Chat Noir replied.

Chloé rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Next question," she said, not giving either hero a chance to comment. " How did you react the first time you saw your kwami?"

And so it went on, Chloé quickly asking her questions before Ladybug or Chat Noir could react to the answers they heard.

Ladybug later decided that it was a Saturday well-spent.

* * *

Saturday night was a relatively good night for Marinette, but Sunday night brought terrors that had Marinette nearly screaming and crying in her sleep.

Sabine had heard the odd cry from her own room and had to climb the ladder to tap her daughter's foot to wake her, because calling out her name did nothing. Tikki hid behind Marinette's pillow.

"Marinette?" Sabine asked, slightly worried about her child. "Marinette?"

Marinette just turned over, burying her face in one of her pillows to muffle the sobs that wracked her body.

"Marinette, wake up, sweetie!"

"No, please, no."

Determined, Sabine climbed onto the bed and shook her daughter's shoulder. She just managed to avoid colliding with Marinette as the young girl's eyes flew open and she sat up faster than she should have, reaching out at a hazy dream with a loud cry of, "NO!"

"Marinette!" Sabine cried, grabbing her daughter's shoulders and starting the shaking girl. "What happened?"

"It was just a dream," Marinette whispered, mostly to herself. "Just a dream, just a dream."

Sabine hugged her daughter and soothingly ran her hand down Marinette's back. "Just a dream," she echoed. "Are you okay? Do you want to stay home today?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, I wanted to join fencing, remember? There's a lesson today. Besides, if I keep busy, I'll forget about the dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sabine asked, holding her daughter at arm's length, studying her face.

Marinette shook her head fiercely. Fresh tears threatened to fall. Sabine nodded. "That's fine. You know you can come to me if you need to, okay?"

Marinette nodded wiping at her eyes.

"I'll leave you to rest a little. It's still very early. Do you want me to take you to school a little late today?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll walk. I'll go soon, I want to keep getting to class on time."

Sabine nodded again. She threaded her fingers through Marinette's loose hair. "When this weekend comes around, you and I can go shopping for some new rubber bands. It looks like the ones you've got are too weak to hold your hair through the night now. How about that?"

Marinette just nodded without saying anything. Sabine nodded once more before climbing down. "Yell if you need me, okay?"

Marinette nodded once again. As soon as the trapdoor closed after Sabine, Tikki flew out from behind Marinette's pillow. Before she even got a word out, Marinette spoke.

"I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"If I'm ever in danger of being akumatized, you need to --"

"Marinette, you won't be akumatized," Tikki said gently. "You've got too much of a kind heart to --"

"Okay, but what if? If it happens, there needs to be someone who can cleanse the akuma, so you have to promise that you'll take my earrings."

"Marinette," Tikki said firmly. "There is no danger of you getting akumatized --"

"I need to talk to Chat Noir," Marinette mumbled while Tikki spoke. "Spots on!"

Tikki's sentence ended abruptly as she found herself sucked into the earrings.

* * *

Ladybug stood on her rooftop, calling Chat Noir. After at least a minute, he answered.

"This better be important, m'lady. I had to promise my kwami three wheels of the stinkiest cheese ever to let me transform."

Ladybug smiled slightly. "Meet me on the rooftop of the Dupain-Cheng bakery as soon as you can."

The black cat nodded before the screen was black again. Ladybug waited no more than half a minute before her partner landed beside her. "What's wrong?"

"I want you to promise me something."

"I'm listening."

"If I'm ever in danger of being akumatized, and if you can, I want you to promise that you'll take my earrings and give them to someone you can trust so that they can do my job and cleanse the akuma."

"What makes you think you're in danger of being akumatized, Ladybug? You're the most kind-hearted person I know, Hawkmoth couldn't akumatized you if he tried his hardest."

"I know, Chat, but please. _Promise_ me. Please."

"Ladybug . . . did you have another nightmare? It was just a bad dream, my lady. You won't get akumatized, I know you."

"Chat, please. I just need to hear it."

"Ladybug, you'll always be around to cleanse akumas. There's no need for someone else to do your job."

"Chat --" Ladybug broke off as she heard her mother call for her. "I have to go. This conversation isn't over."

She knew it was risky, but she went ahead and swung away before making a circle and tumbling through the kitchen window as her transformation wore off. She checked the clock, a little early for school, but she had told her mother she'd be going early. She grabbed a cookie, stuffed one in her purse that she had left here the night before, and scribbled a note saying she'd left for school. Then she ran out and headed towards the school.

* * *

Chloé didn't want to be at home.

Sure, her mother stuck around and was at home now, but it just didn't feel right anymore. At first, she was overjoyed to have her mother around, to have her mother think she was exceptional, but not anymore. Not since Chloé helped save Paris.

Somehow, Audrey got it in her head that Chloé simply wanted more attention, and would not believe Chloé when she said she did it to help people. Of course, Audrey thought she was above everyone else, and for the longest time, so did Chloé.

But she realised that being a hero meant being a hero to _everyone_ , not just people who were akumatized.

And as Chloé sat on the steps of the school and saw a figure walk past her and straight into her classroom, Chloé decided that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in _desperate_ need of a hero.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe look, Chloé gives Mari a makeover

Chloé opened the door of the classroom that was empty save the girl with her head on the desk.

"For someone who's so into fashion, you look like a total disaster," she said, closing the door behind her and walking up to the side of Marinette's desk.

"Go away, Chloé," Marinette grumbled, not lifting her head.

"Did you even get a chance to brush this?" she asked, lifting a tangled lock of blue hair.

"Some of us don't wake up looking flawless, Chloé," Marinette said, lifting her head to look up at the blonde girl.

"Who does that? Show me people that wake up looking flawless? Oh, were you referring to me? I'll have you know I wake up nearly four hours in advance to be able to look this good. You're lucky I carry my emergency kit with me to school."

"Wait, what?" Marinette asked, turning around to see Chloé dumping her bag on Ivan's desk and pulling out a wrapped-up kit of some items Marinette didn't even know the name of.

"What's that?" she asked in genuine curiosity as she pointed at one of the items.

"A hairbrush. Honestly, Dupain-Cheng --"

"I can see _that_ , Bourgeois. I meant why does it look like that? And what's with the cable?"

"Have you -- have you _never_ seen a brush straightener before?"

"Why would I? Normal people tend to use normal brushes."

Chloé rolled her eyes. Marinette suddenly grinned. "Wait . . . if you need a straightener . . . is your hair _naturally_ _curly_?"

Chloé narrowed her eyes and pointed a hair iron at Marinette. "If you don't tell anyone, I won't tell anyone you walked in here looking like you slept in the park last night."

Marinette only grinned wider. "You have curly hair," she squeaked.

"Behave yourself, Dupain-Cheng, or I won't be gentle."

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"I'm making you look decent," Chloé said as she chose a brush and stood in front of Marinette. "Turn, or I'll brush your eyebrows."

Half afraid Chloé would follow up on her threats, Marinette faced her back towards the blonde. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to know why everyone is so infatuated with being nice. What's to gain from it?"

Marinette smiled at the wall. So her giving Chloé the opportunity to fix her mistakes was seeming to work.

"What about you, why do you look like a trash panda?"

"I slept in the park last night."

In her surprise, Chloé yanked on one of Marinette's knots.

"Ow!"

"Really?"

Marinette ignored the lack of an apology. "Geez, Bourgeois, I thought you were smarter than that. Of course not."

"Listen, as the person who is at the mercy of my brush, I suggest you be a little nicer to me."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Why do you even carry electrical brushes and hair equipment with you?"

"You never know when you might need it for an emergency."

"Most people just carry a hairband for emergencies."

"You're one to talk. You didn't even brush your hair."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "I didn't get a chance to. I left the house before my mother sat down with me to discuss psychologists or something."

Genuinely curious, Chloé paused in brushing the knots out of Marinette's hair. "Why? What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just . . . lots of terrified screaming in my sleep."

Chloé leaned to the side so she could see at least half of Marinette's face. "Do you need a therapist?"

Marinette shook her head. "Well, not for my nightmares. I might need one to get over the shock of you being nice to me."

"Ha ha, very funny," Chloé said sarcastically.

Silence ensued as Chloé continued to brush Marinette's hair. Surprisingly, the silence wasn't awkward at all.

"Red or green?" Chloè asked after a while.

"Hmm?"

"Red or green?" she repeated. "I wanna know what colour you prefer. It needs to match and you're wearing a Chat Noir t-shirt, but your sweatpants has little ladybugs on the one side."

"Let's go with green," Marinette said. "You better not make me look like you," she added when it felt like Chloé was pulling her hair up into a ponytail like Chloé's.

"Relax, Dupain-Cheng. Why would I do that? I'm the only one that can do this style."

Marinette scoffed. "Bet I could do it better."

"Maybe," Chloé said, surprising Marinette, "now, sit still or it's all going to flop on one side."

Quietly, Marinette sat still. It was only after Chloé mentioned it that Marinette realised she had essentially left her house in her pyjamas. They weren't really pyjamas, but she had slept in them. . .

The t-shirt was one Alya had bought but had been too big for, and she couldn't return it. Marinette gladly accepted it as a gift when Alya mentioned that she didn't like it much, even if it was a little big on her smaller frame. The sweatpants she had bought herself because Tikki hadn't stopped giggling to herself for nearly ten minutes after seeing it. As far as the kwami said, she had been imagining Marinette's face instead of the little ladybugs.

Marinette smiled every time she put it on.

"Done," Chloé said after a moment, admiring the braided bin of blue hair on Marinette's head. Marinette turned around to find Chloé stuffing all her things back into the big bag.

"What is that?" Marinette asked when Chloé produced a box about the size of a few stacked books.

"My other emergency kit. Close your eyes or you'll get lotion in them."

"Chloé, I know how to take care of my skin, thank you very much."

"Maybe, but I can tell you didn't do your routine this morning."

"Chloé--"

"Eyes closed. Now."

Sighing, Marinette did as Chloé said.

"That smells nice."

"Close your mouth too. I won't hesitate to put the rose scented lotion in your mouth for the sole purpose of laughing at your misery."

"And there's the Chloé I know and loathe."

Chloé laughed. "Close your mouth, Marinette."   
. . .

"Is that powder?"

"Do you want it in your mouth?"

"No."

"Then stop talking."   
. . .

"Can I open my eyes?"

"If you want me to stab you in the eye with the brush, then sure, go ahead."   
. . .

"Please don't make me look like a clown."

"No, you do that by yourself."  
. . .

Nearly thirty minutes later, Chloé stepped back and closed a lip gloss tube with a satisfied smile on her face.

"That was the most pathetic hair and makeup job I've ever done, but you definitely look better than you did an hour ago."

"I am so scared to look at my reflection."

"Forget that, we need to fix your disaster outfit," Chloé said, packing her makeup box away. "Come on."

"Hey, this stuff is cute."

"If you wear it right, maybe. Come on."

Chloé grabbed Marinette's arm and pulled her to the front of the classroom. She left her bag at her own desk before circling Marinette. "Okay, I can work with this. Sneakers, very good. Okay, let's do this."

"Hey!"

Chloé bent down and pulled Marinette's sweatpants leg up so that the bands sat just below her knees. She stepped back and nodded before moving closer and grabbing at Marinette's large t-shirt.

"Isn't this going against the dress code?" Marinette asked while Chloé made a knot with the extra fabric, cause the t-shirt to sit above her navel. Chloé then tugged the sweatpants down so it sat on Marinette's hips.

"There, now you look decent."

"Decent?" Marinette repeated. " _Decent_?! I'm half naked!"

Chloé scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. It's called fashion. I thought you of all people would know that."

Marinette tucked the knot under so that it was hidden behind the billowing fabric. "Street fashion, maybe. Not _school_ fashion."

Chloé sat down at her desk with a satisfied smile, facing forward, her head up and her eyes closed. "Adrien approves of my decisions," she said, "don't you, Adrikins?" she asked, turned to look behind Marinette, who screamed and jumped around to see a very red-faced blonde boy.

Chloé just snickered quietly and acted as if she had done absolutely nothing, while both Marinette and Adrien fumbled to form a coherent sentence, both of them steadily getting more embarrassed when Marinette nearly pantsed herself in an attempt to fix her clothing.

Chloé was _very_ amused.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette headbutts Adrien, gets caught up in the moment, falls from the overhead beams, and unknowingly flirts with Adrien -- not necessarily in that order.

Alya was surprised to see Marinette at school so early, but she was even more surprised at how Marinette looked. "Girl, what --"

"Don't. Ask," Marinette seethed through clenched teeth, gripping her pencil very tightly, and a slightly murderous look on her face whose effect was cancelled by the bright blush that spread across her cheeks.

Alya sat down. Marinette's anger wasn't going to stop her. "Why are you wearing your Ladybug sweats and my Chat Noir t-shirt _outside_?"

"First thing I grabbed," Marinette answered, very focused on some sketch she was working on.

"Mmhm. Why are the sweats pulled up to your knees?"

Marinette stopped sketching to glare at the front of the classroom. If she looked a little lower, she would see Adrien and she might explode from all the blood rushing to her face. If she looked to her right, she might just stab _someone_ with her pencil. "There's a hole in one of the legs and I didn't want to only pull up one to hide it."

Chloé smirked.

Alya nodded, accepting it for now. "And the t-shirt being tied a little too high?"

While Adrien suddenly coughed before looking down again, Marinette nearly snapped her pencil in half. "I ripped the fabric and I couldn't fix it because I don't carry _emergency_ _kits_ wherever I go."

Chloé faked a cough to hide her amused snort. Only Marinette noticed the soft chuckle.

"And the hair?"

"I -- err . . . I only had one rubber band today."

"Makeup?"

"Trying new things."

"Is that so?" Alya teased, having noticed how the boy in front of Marinette stiffened and was now sitting up straight, looking very guilty.

The truth was that Marinette had snapped at Chloé to help, but she was too amused to stop everything so soon, so Adrien offered his help. Marinette was grateful, but the two of them were so awkward, they tried to keep away from each other and _that's_ how the rips in Marinette's clothing formed. So Adrien was feeling _very_ guilty.

"Well, at least you look comfortable," Alya said. "You know, aside from the fancy hairdo."

"I always look comfortable, Alya," Marinette said with a confused frown.

"Yeah, okay, sure, but not for a martial arts lesson."

"A _what_?"

"Did you forget? Mr Damocles said we'd have a trial lesson today during the time fencing is usually held."

Marinette was fuming. She had suffered through Chloé because she had wanted to attend the fencing lesson. If she had remembered, she'd have let her mother keep her home! "Why?"

"Marinette, you were there. He said it will bring about more diversity in sports. Besides, I distinctly remember you betting that you could take me down in a fight." Alya gave her best friend a smirk as she flexed her arms to show she had more muscle than Marinette, who giggled.

"Alya, when have you ever worked out?" she asked with a smile.

"When have you, my dear toothpick?" Alya countered.

"Touché," Marinette said, nodding her head. "For the record, you're going _down_."

"Bring it," Alya said, grinning widely.

* * *

Alya and Marinette didn't get to prove who was better than who at the art, because the pairings had gone awry. The instructor, a middle-aged man, had decided that for his trial lesson, students were to partner up with someone whom they were certain was of their own calibre.

Marinette was late, and if she couldn't show off against her best friend, Alya was going to show off against her boyfriend.

So Adrien was sitting out -- Chloé refused to participate in Nino's place, flaunting her father's mayor status as an excuse as to why she could be exempt if she wanted to -- when Marinette arrived and the two were paired up by the instructor.

Marinette squeaked as both she and Adrien flushed, both of them clearly remembering the debacle partly caused by Chloé. Marinette glared at the blonde before taking a deep breath. She was going to show Chloé exactly what she was capable of. Who knows, she might even scare the blonde a little.

"Come on," she said, setting her purse down gently with her bag grabbing Adrien's arm and pulling him towards the mats that had been laid down in the fencing hall.

The martial arts instructor had brought quite a few things from his own previous classroom, which included boxing dummies, climbing walls that were set up on one side, climbing ropes that hung from the trusses on the outskirts so as to not smack any students, and a variety of dummy weapons.

"Wait!"

Adrien whispered a warning to his kwami before removing the white shirt he always wore over his t-shirt and set it down beside his own bag. In her fury at Chloé, Marinette barely even noticed that she was holding on to her crush. Unbeknownst to everyone present, Tikki and Plagg got comfortable within the folds of Adrien's shirt to watch the show.

Chloé smirked as Marinette undid then retied the knot in her t-shirt a little tighter.

"Marinette? Are you mad?"

"At you?" Marinette asked, suddenly realising that she wasn't actually about to fight Chloé. "No, not at all. At Chloé?" She frowned at the girl. "Very much so."

"You should stretch before we start. You missed warm-up and I don't want you to get hurt."

Marinette smiled Alya's favourite teasing grin. "Are you trying to delay your doom, Mr Agreste?"

A few feet away, Alya was so stunned at her friend's sudden bravery around the model that Nino managed to topple her to the ground.

"Is yes an appropriate answer?"

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," Marinette assured him, smiling as she did some basic stretched. He was right about missing the warm-up session, and Marinette _really_ didn't want to suffer through pulling a muscle.

Adrien seemed to have recovered from the shock of witnessing the morning's events and smirked at his sparring partner. "Is that so? Well, don't expect me to do the same."

"Like you could land a hit," Marinette scoffed. Being Ladybug for so long, Marinette managed to pick up a few of her fighting skills while in spandex. Granted, it was a little harder when she didn't have a magic yo-yo and the special abilities of a superhero, but she was definitely skilled for a fifteen-year-old girl.

Of course, she didn't know the same was true of Adrien, who had been Chat Noir just as long as she had been Ladybug.

Adrien was surprised, but he got over it quickly enough. "Let's see what you've got, then, Miss Dupain-Cheng," he said with a challenging grin, his hands folded behind his back and he leaned down to the shorter teenager.

About ten feet away, Nino succeeded in tripping Alya up again.

* * *

Marinette was sitting on the beam one of the climbing ropes were tied to. She laughed down at Adrien. "What's the matter, Agreste? Scared of heights?"

Alya and Nino had stopped a while ago to watch their best friends engage in a fight that looked just slightly too dangerous to be happening in a school environment. The instructor, however, was overjoyed at the wondrous skill they possessed.

Chloé was marvelling her skilled hand at makeup and hair, because Marinette still looked flawless -- well, as flawless as a former trash panda could be. (Chloé wouldn't be caught dead using one of her own adjectives on Marinette.)

Adrien did not appreciate being shown up by someone who was nearly a head shorter than him. With a determined expression, he grabbed the rope and began climbing. Marinette waited on the beam, crouched like Spiderman, watching in amusement. "Come and get me, scaredy cat!" she laughed.

Adrien still hadn't managed to land a decent hit on her, but then again, she hadn't been able to land one either. They were perfectly matched against each other, as partners should be.

Marinette stood up when Adrien reached the beam, balancing herself by holding her arms out on either side. Adrien was holding on to a pole -- that didn't look very stable -- as he glanced down.

"High up, isn't it?"

Adrien let out a shaky laugh. "I usually have support when I'm so high off the ground."

"Like a pole?" Marinette asked, gesturing to the one Adrien was using for support.

"Something like that, yeah. So, you were saying something about coming to get you?"

Marinette had snatched up her purse some time ago, making sure Tikki wasn't inside, and had detached the one side of the strap. She now spun it around. It wasn't magic, but it would do.

Slightly amused, Adrien got into a fighting stance, brandishing the pole that was nearly Marinette's height. "A purse? I'm _terrified_."

"What are you gonna do with _that_? Pole dance your way to victory?" Marinette smirked triumphantly when Adrien had no response. "Don't insult my purse."

"Noted."

The two of them stood for a while, waiting for the other to make a move, casually tossing remarks.

Down below, the class watched with keen eyes. Some with worry, some with awe, some with jealousy.

"Do you think Marinette knows she's talking to Adrien up there?" Alya whispered.

Nino gave her a flat look. "Do you think Adrien knows he's not indestructible?"

"Fair enough."

Sabrina stood beside Chloé, who refused to join the students seated on the mats. "Aren't you worried about Adrien?" she asked softly. "He looks like he's having fun with Marinette."

Chloé nodded. "I know. He'll get his head out of the clouds soon enough, you'll see."

"So, tell me, Marinette," Adrien said -- loud enough for the students to hear, "what's a purse going to do against a metal pole?"

"Unless you can actually use that pole to your advantage, I suggest keeping the snide remarks to a minimum, Agreste."

"No I'm being serious," Adrien said, standing normally, holding the pole across his body. "I wanna know what you plan on --" he didn't finish, because Marinette had flicked her wrist towards him and the purse locked around the pole. He glanced down at it, and when he looked back up, Marinette jerked her arm backwards.

Their audience let out a collective gasp as Adrien stumbled forward and into Marinette. The pair teetered for a moment before they regained their balance, Adrien with one arm around Marinette, the other using the pole as leverage. They received a collective sigh of relief.

Marinette seemed suddenly realise exactly how close she was to Adrien and the fact that his hand was on her skin. She blushed beet red and stepped backwards.

"Marinette!"

It happened in a second or less. Marinette slipped off the beam and Adrien jumped after her without thinking. It seemed he wasn't the only one who forgot he wasn't a superhero at the moment. The metal pole balanced perfectly between two beams, and Marinette's purse held the weight of both students surprisingly well.

The situation seemed familiar to the two of them, but neither of them could place it.

"That purse won't hold on for long," Max noted. "Either it's going to snap or unwind."

"Hold on!" the instructor said. "I'll go get help."

"Ugh, peasants," Chloé snapped as she dropped her sunglasses and her yellow jacket beside Marinette and Adrien's things. "Do I have to do _everything_ myself?"

"Chloé, what are you doing?" Alya asked.

The blonde didn't answer. For someone who hated _doing_ things, Chloé sure seemed to be doing a lot for Marinette today. And it was a great surprise to learn that Chloé could climb a rope. So surprising, in fact, that the instructor actually paused to watch.

When Chloé was slightly below Adrien and Marinette, she swung until she managed to grab the rope closest to her.

"Don't move," she warned them, glancing up at the purse that was slowly slipping from around the pole. "Adrien first," she said.

"No, first --" Adrien started.

"She's right, I'm lighter than you are."

Chloé rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'm right. I always am." She gave the second rope a good swing forward and made sure Adrien had it firmly before letting go.

"Chloé, a little faster would be much appreciated," Marinette said, holding on to her purse with one hand, watching how it slowly slipped.

Chloé rolled her eyes again as she got ready to swing towards the rope on her other side.

Then Marinette's purse slipped completely.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug lets Queen Bee lead a fight (not that she's given much of a choice)

"Do you doubt my skills, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé asked sarcastically, having grabbed Marinette's wrist as she dropped past.

"So dramatic, Bourgeois," Marinette responded with equal sarcasm, albeit a little shakily.

Chloé rolled her eyes as she provided Marinette with the momentum to grab on to the second rope. "You just don't appreciate me enough," she said, lowering down until it was safe to drop to the ground -- which was still pretty high up.

"Thank you for saving me, Chloé," Marinette said patronisingly as she copied the blonde.

"Who was talking about that? I'm talking about your _hair_!"

Once all three of them were on the ground, the class let out the breaths they didn't realise they'd been holding. After all, they had just witnessed Marinette's life -- or maybe just the possibility of breaking a few bones -- literally fall into Chloé's hand.

Alya collapsed and sat down, her hand over her heart. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm so exhausted!" Chloé cried. "I hate exercise!" Then she -- despite anything she had said earlier -- dropped herself on the mat a few feet away from Alya and seemed to have gone asleep.

"You fight good, Marinette, you should join a club."

"It's more of a hobby. So do you, by the way."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah . . . I've never been more tired."

Marinette sat down next to Adrien, who laid back with his arm over his closed eyes. She smiled in amusement as she looked around at everyone, whose exhaustion had finally caught up with.

Then she blinked and she wasn't in the hall anymore, she wasn't sitting on red safety mats, and her friends weren't pretending to be asleep.

She saw what she did in her nightmare.

They lay on the dirt, costumes torn to expose near-fatal wounds. Queen Bee had stopped moving completely about five seconds ago. Rena Rouge had cuts all over her body, the white of her costume stained an angry red. She wasn't moving at all. Carapace's eyes were still open, staring up at nothing, lifeless.

She looked at her side and Chat Noir lay there, the after-effects of his Cataclysm just barely surrounding his hands. The little bell tinkled once before it stopped moving, along with Chat Noir's chest.

She glanced at her hands to find them red, but not with her spandex suit.

"Marinette!"

She opened her eyes to find four faces looking down at her, blocking the light from blinding her.

"Are you all right?" Nino asked.

"Did you pass out?" Alya asked.

"You look pale," Adrien said. "Do you need something? Water?"

"You look like a trash panda again."

Chloé's comment was the only one Marinette responded to -- a wheezing sort of laugh -- before she passed out.

* * *

"Ugh."

Chloé didn't even look up from her magazine. "My sentiments exactly."

Marinette rolled her eyes as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the small little bed in the nurse's office. "Why are you here, Chloé?"

"It's not by choice," she said, closing the magazine. "Mr Damocles said you needed someone to watch over you."

Marinette narrowed her eyebrows. "Alya, Nino, Rosé, Juleka, Kim, Alix, Ivan, Mylene, Max, even Sabr--"

"Okay, I got your point! They're all hiding, and Alya is busy recording for her stupid Ladyblog."

"Why?"

"Mr Damocles told the instructor he won't be allowed to hold his classes here because it's too dangerous, you and Adrien did fall off a beam you weren't supposed to be on. So now he's been akumatized into some Sensei Waru or something."

"There's an akuma?! I have to --"

"You're perfectly safe in here, Dupain-Cheng. Which other person is lucky enough to have _Queen Bee_ personally protect them? Besides, Ladybug will show up soon and then it'll all be over."

Marinette groaned. Chloé didn't understand.

She _was_ Ladybug. If Chloé kept her here, Ladybug would _never_ show up.

"Also, you're too weak to do anything. You can barely stand."

Unfortunately, Chloé was right. Marinette wondered if she should tell Chloé so that she could go and help her partner, but then she noticed that a certain kwami was missing from her purse. Thankfully, her worry didn't last long, but her confusion steadily rose as Master Fu entered the room, Tikki hovering behind.

Chloé recognised Tikki immediately. "I tried to give you to Prince Ali as a plush toy!"

Marinette and Tikki made every effort not to look at each other.

"My name is Tikki --"

"Are you Ladybug's kwami?" Chloé asked. "Is that why she isn't helping Chat Noir? Because you're here? Why _are_ you here? Where's Ladybug?"

"Ladybug is currently unable to transform," Master Fu said, also trying not to look at Marinette as he said this, "and Chat Noir cannot fight alone."

Nobody wanted to reveal Ladybug's identity.

"I am here to offer you the Miraculous of Subjection."

Both Chloé's and Marinette's mouth dropped open as the short old man presented Chloé with the small box containing the hair comb.

"But what about Ladybug? She's the only one that can purify the akuma!"

"I'll handle that," Tikki said, "but we must be careful. Kwami aren't meant to use their powers by themselves. It can be disastrous."

"But you're the kwami of _creation_ ," Marinette blurted. "How can that be bad?"

"How do you know that?" Chloé asked.

Tikki and Master Fu shared a worried glance.

"Err . . . it was on the Ladyblog, didn't you watch it?"

Chloé scoffed before turning to Master Fu and accepting the box.

"What do I have to do?" she asked once there were two kwami looking at her.

"Just break the item with the akuma, and I'll do the rest," Tikki said.

With the words "Buzz on!" and a bright yellow flash, Queen Bee stood where Chloé was moments ago. Tikki grabbed the antenna sticking out of Chloé's hairband. "Let's go."

"Master Fu, why didn't you let me transform?" Marinette asked once they were gone. "I could've done it."

"No, you have become weak. Why did you not come to me about your nightmares?"

Master Fu took Chloé's vacated seat.

"I thought they were just bad dreams. Everyone gets bad dreams."

Master Fu nodded. "Yes, but the dreams of a miraculous holder are significant."

Marinette's gaze clouded over slightly. "Significant?"

"Certain kinds of dreams predict certain events, but not always directly. Often, it is up to the Miraculous holder and their kwami to decipher the message."

Marinette shook her head. "No. My friends are _not_ going to die before we all turn eighteen."

"Die?" Master Fu repeated, looking quite shocked.

The bluenette nodded. She looked down at the ladybugs on her pants. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Marinette . . . you must talk to someone. These dreams will consume your every thought if you let it go on like this. Your kwami is there for you if you feel you cannot trust anyone around you."

"It's not like that. I'm sure I can trust my friends and my parents, but I can't put _this_ on them. I can't tell my parents, because to explain just how haunting it all is to me would include having to tell them who Ladybug truly is, and I can't have them always worrying about me during akuma attacks. I can't tell my friends because I don't know how to tell them I saw their dead bodies on three different nights now."

"Three nights?" Master Fu repeated. "Has it been the same?"

Marinette shook her head. "Once, Chloé as Queen Bee was akumatized. The second was Alya as Rena Rouge. The third . . . the third was --"

"Master!" A red blur shot into the room. "They need help. We could call Rena Rouge and Carapace, or anyone, but Queen Bee and Chat Noir won't hold out much longer."

"Let me go," Marinette said. "I can do it."

Master Fu took a deep breath. "Marinette, you _must_ talk about these dreams. You will reach a point where you won't even be able to get out of bed."

"But I'm fine _now_ , Master Fu, and my friends need Ladybug."

"Very well, take extra care. You haven't fully recovered from your concussion."

Marinette nodded and stood up. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

With the power from her miraculous, Ladybug was able to move around, but she still swayed on her feet, dizzy for some time after landing between two heroes and the villain.

"Glad you could drop in, m'lady," Chat Noir said from behind.

"The akuma is in the belt of his martial arts uniform," Queen Bee said, using her spinning top in a similar way to Ladybug and her yo-yo, effectively creating a large shield.

Ladybug nodded. They stood on the bridge, parrying, blocking and countering the akumatized instructor's attacks.

"We could use some luck, Bug-brain!" Queen Bee shouted.

"Lucky charm!"

Queen Bee and Chat Noir kept the villain from reaching Ladybug as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do with a compact mirror.

"That's it," she told herself after noticing Queen Bee. "RETREAT!"

"What?" Chat Noir asked. "Did you say--"

"You heard the bug!" Queen Bee cut him off, already following Ladybug to the nearest rooftop, easily hidden from Sensei Waru.

"Ladybug, are you okay?" Chat Noir asked when Ladybug slid to the floor, leaning against the chimney.

The spotted heroine shook her head. "Master Fu told me not to transform, but Tikki said you needed help."

"What do you need us to do, Ladybug?" Queen Bee asked, concerned for her hero.

"Queen Bee, you're going to distract him," she said, placing the mirror with a ladybug-printed mirror in Queen Bee's hand, "by temporarily blinding him."

"Chat Noir, I'm going to trap him while he's distracted, so get ready to destroy the belt with your Cataclysm, because I don't think I'll be able to hold him down for long." 

Chat Noir nodded. Slowly, Ladybug stood up. "Ready when you are, Queen Bee."

The yellow and black heroine nodded before taking off and standing on the opposite rooftop. Ladybug jumped back into the villain's path and made sure he was facing Queen Bee as she made weak attempts at attacking.

Then there was a bright flash from behind Ladybug and the man closed his eyes, his hands reaching up. Before he could, Ladybug had her yo-yo tightly wrapped around his body.

"Chat Noir, now!"

"Cataclysm!"

Ladybug stopped pulling and her yo-yo came flying back to her. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma," she said before swinging the glowing circle at the akuma and capturing it.

"Bye bye, little butterfly," she said, releasing a pure white butterfly into the air.

"Not a moment too soon," Chloé said, walking up to them with Pollen at her shoulder. "I tried to use my Venom on him roughly five minutes ago."

Ladybug grinned before tossing the mirror Chloé handed to her up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A swarm of butterflies emerged, sweeping over all the damage in the city. Ladybug looked at Chloé. "This makes twice that you've helped save Paris."

Chloé swelled with pride as she, Ladybug and Chat Noir formed a three-way fist pump. "Pound it!"

"I should get this back to Master Fu," Chloé said, tapping the comb in her hair.

"I need to detransform," Ladybug said, "I wasn't even supposed to leave my bed," she added to make it seem believable that she had been bedridden.

Chat Noir's miraculous beeped. "Au revoir, ladies," he said, giving them both a two-finger salute before vaulting away.

"Where's Pollen?" Ladybug asked.

"Here," the yellow kwami said, popping out of Chloé's ponytail. "It's surprisingly comfortable in here."

"That would be thanks to my conditioner," Chloé said with a proud smile. "You should get going Ladybug. I need to go back so Master Fu can leave. I left him to watch over a f -- over Marinette."

Ladybug smiled as she left the area with the help of her yo-yo. Chloé had very nearly called Marinette her friend, and right now, that was good enough.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé is human, wow  
> Alya is skeptical of (course)

"Is Ladybug going to be okay?" Chloé asked, handing the box with the comb back to Master Fu.

"She will be fine very soon. And don't worry about Marinette, she's just exhausted. I hear there was an impressive fight today."

Chloé nodded, thinking about the risky things Marinette and Adrien had done to show off earlier. "Are you sure Ladybug is okay? She looked half dead today."

"She just needs to talk a little. I promise you, she will be fine. Goodbye, Chloé Bourgeois."

And then he was gone. As soon as Chloé sat down, Alya burst in.

"Marinette! You won't believe what I caught on video --"

"Don't you knock? And she's still asleep."

Alya stopped suddenly, noticing that Marinette was asleep and Chloé was still sitting in her chair, glazing over the pages of a magazine.

"But you -- I saw -- you were just -- but Queen Bee -- _how_?"

"How what?" the blonde asked, lowering the magazine.

"How are you _here_ _now_ when you were _there_ two _seconds_ ago?"

Chloé shrugged. "I guess we'll never know," she said, lifting the magazine again.

"Well, you don't have to stay here, I'm back. You can go . . . do whatever it is rich brats like to do."

Marinette grunted in her sleep before turning over. Moaning and groaning as one does when one wishes to remain asleep, Marinette yawned and blinked sleepily."Good going, nerd, you've woken her up."

Alya put her hands on her hips and faced the seated teenager. "I like her awake, anyway."

"Well, I like her _alive_ so it might be a little smart to let her sleep her exhaustion off."

Marinette sat up sharply once she heard Chloé's response. Chloé, who had quickly realised what she had said, stood up and dropped the magazine. "Good, you're awake. Goodbye."

"Did she just say what I think she just said?" Alya asked.

Marinette yawned. "Who knows? It's Chloé. I heard there was an akuma?"

She knew the topic would distract Alya from Chloé's remarks.

The blonde was just so full of surprises, and it wasn't even noon yet.

* * *

"What I don't get," Alya said after they watched all her footage, "is why Ladybug sought out _Chloé_ to help her. I think Carapace could've done more about shielding Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Rena Rouge would have distracted the bad guy much easier. I just don't understand why Chloé was necessary."

Marinette shrugged. "Maybe it's important to show Chloé that she has a purpose. I'm sure Ladybug would call on Rena Rouge and Carapace if she needed their help. At least with them, I'm pretty sure their civilian forms aren't as self-absorbed as Chloé was."

"Was?" Alya echoed.

Marinette nodded. "She didn't even look at her reflection in the mirror Ladybug gave her once."

Alya grinned. "Very funny, Marinette. How do you feel, by the way? Ms Bustier said you hit your head hard enough to form a bruise."

Marinette touched the back of her head, where it was numbly painful. "Weren't we on the safety mats?"

"Yeah," Alya said with a growing grin, "but you fell on Adrien."

"I did _what_?! Is he okay? Wha-- how did I do that?"

"Well, one minute you were sitting up and the next . . . bam, your head collided with Adrien's."

"I hit Adrien's _head_?!"

"Calm down, girl, he's all right. Well, he might not have survived the extreme . . . _care_ . . . he received from Chloé, but he'll be fine."

Marinette put her head in her hands. "I headbutted Adrien," she moaned, "after we nearly fell like twenty feet."

"That's probably not true."

Marinette lifted her head. "I was being realistic. It looked like fifty feet when I was up there and felt like about a hundred when I was falling."

Alya smiled. "The main thing is that you're okay."

"No, the main thing is that I'm okay _because_ _of_ _Chloé_. That girl is changing, for the better."

"I don't know Marinette, it seemed like she was showing off."

_So was_ _I_ , Marinette almost said, but she decided not to push it. She sighed after a few seconds. "I need to sleep off the shock of discovering that I headbutted Adrien and then passed out before I could apologise."

"You do that," Alya said, patting Marinette on the back comfortingly. "It's not every day you tease Adrien and then try to give him a concussion as well."

"Alya! You say it like that was my aim th-- I wasn't _teasing_ him!"

"Girl, there's no way you weren't. When he suggested you should warm up first, you said, and I quote, are you trying to delay your doom, Mr Agreste? To which he responded with a surprised expression. And then, when you were up there on the beams, he was brandishing a metal pole as a weapon and you asked him if he was gonna pole dance his way to victory."

Marinette's eyes widened as Alya spoke. "I am an idiot," she said conclusively. "A total disaster. He's probably never gonna a look at me again!"

"Okay, cut the dramatics, Marinette. In fact, he seemed pretty impressed, actually."

"He did?" Marinette asked hopefully.

Alya nodded. "Well, right up until you passed out on top of him."

Marinette let out a funny wail before dropping back on the bed, her hands over her face. "Disaster!"

Alya chuckled at her friend's antics. 

* * *

After hearing about the incident at school, Sabine put her daughter on bed rest. Marinette didn't mind, it gave her time to talk to her kwami.

"What exactly happened, Tikki?"

"Just after you passed out, Mr Damocles came to tell the instructor that he won't be allowed to hold the classes because it's too risky. He must've been very upset about the whole thing, because the next thing anyone knew, he was akumatized and he was looking for you. He said it was your fault because you injured yourself. Chloé was the one that moved you to the nurse's office and she hid there with you. I figured you were safe enough with her there and Chat Noir fighting the man, so I went to find Master Fu."

"Chloé said Mr Damocles --"

"She probably just didn't want you to know that she was being selfless again. She's Chloé. Anyway, Master Fu asked if you had been having funny dreams, so I said that you'd been suffering from nightmares. Then he said he would speak to you about it and that I needed to help Chloé and Chat Noir cleanse the akuma."

"Tikki . . . earlier you said something about it being dangerous for you to use your power . . . what did you mean?"

Tikki thought about the best way to phrase her answer. "Sometimes it can go overboard. Like when Plagg nearly destroyed half of Paris on his own. Cleansing the akuma by myself could easily destroy the butterfly but it could also destroy the victim."

"But . . . but you're the kwami of _creation_ , how can you destroy things?"

Tikki shrugged. "We don't truly know, Marinette, but we know enough to know that we should never use our powers by ourselves. It could be disastrous. Now, Master Fu said you need to talk about your dreams or you won't find peace from them."

Marinette shook her head. "I can't, Tikki. I promised Master Fu I'd talk about them and I will, but not right now. Not about this one."

"What could be so bad that you don't even want to talk about it?"

Marinette bit her lip and glanced down, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I don't want to talk about it, Tikki," she whispered.

"Okay, Marinette. Whenever you're ready."

But Marinette didn't ever think she would be ready to tell Tikki that she had dreamt of her kwami's death, if such a thing was even possible. 

* * *

"So, do you wanna tell me why you lied to your parents on Saturday?"

Marinette groaned inwardly and curled up on her chaise as Alya sat down where her feet were moments ago.

"I just wanted some alone time, and I knew my best friend would cover for me," she said, giving Alya a bright smile.

"You could've come to my house. Just relax, maybe watch a few movies or something. Where did you go?"

Marinette hesitated as she thought up a lie. "I was on the roof the whole time. Not the balcony up there, the _roof_."

"How did you get up there?"

"I'm Ladybug."

Somewhere up by Marinette's bed, something fell over. Alya laughed. "Okay, very funny. Listen, Chloé's been acting really strange all afternoon."

"Really?"

Alya nodded. "Yeah, she hasn't made one nasty comment _at all_."

Marinette nodded approvingly. "That's good."

"Yeah, but it's _weird_. Almost as weird as Chloé having her miraculous full time like Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Huh," Marinette muttered, "that might actually make Chloé a better person faster than I thought."

"No way," Alya said as something fell over for the second time. Marinette was just glad Alya didn't notice the red kwami dropping things in surprise. "Chloé's a brat, I don't think Ladybug would give her the miraculous full time."

"Maybe it's not up to Ladybug," Marinette said. "Apparently Ladybug was too weak to do it today, so how could _she_ have given Chloé the miraculous?"

"Maybe . . . maybe she told Chat Noir to give it to her."

Marinette shook her head. "We watched your footage. Poor kitty cat didn't get a chance to even turn his back on the villain until Ladybug showed up -- as the backup."

Alya shrugged. "I got nothing. Let me think for a while -- at least let me try to back up my claims."

Marinette laughed softly, but in the silence that ensued between the two girls as Alya studied her most recent footage, Marinette's thoughts began to wander.

"Hey, Alya?"

"Hmm?" the brunette asked, not looking away from her phone.

"What would happen if I got akumatized?"

"Girl, I wouldn't let it happen," she said once she recovered from the initial shock of Marinette's question. "Besides, you're too pure for akumatizing. You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Why would you even get akumatized?"

Marinette smiled, but she didn't feel any better. She smiled because she knew that's what Alya expected as a response. 

* * *

Marinette stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had hoped that her nightmares would get better, but over the past few days, her nightmares had steadily gotten worse, to the point where she was even afraid to close her eyes.

"Marinette?" Her father knocked on the bathroom door. "Your phone is ringing."

Marinette quickly wiped the water from her face -- glad to see no makeup on the towel -- and thanked her father before rushing up to her bedroom. The number was unfamiliar, but she answered anyway.

"Hello?"

" _Hey, loser_."

"Chloé?" Marinette asked, very surprised to hear from the blonde.

" _Your nerd friend said your mom put you on bed rest so_ _I_ _just called to remind you that you have makeup on today. And_ _don't_ _forget_ _your_ _moisturizer or_ _you'll_ _end up_ _looking_ _like a desert. Also,_ _there's_ _about ten or so hairpins_ _keeping_ _your bun in place, so_ _don't_ _forget to remove them all before you sleep because knowing you, you might stab yourself with one of them in the middle of the night. Was there anything else? No,_ _that's_ _it_ _. Later, loser_."

And that was it. Marinette glanced at her kwami. "Is Chloé being _nice_ or is it just me?"

"I think you were right about the miraculous making her a better Chloé, Marinette. But it's good she called, because you did forget your moisturizer, and knowing you, you probably planned to sleep without undoing your hairstyle."

"True," Marinette sighed, walking towards the mirror in her room. "You know me too well, Tikki."

The little kwami smiled. "Can I ask you a favour, Marinette?"

"Sure," the girl responded, starting to take out all the clips.

"Can you not randomly blurt out that you're Ladybug to Alya?"

Marinette laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Tikki. I knew she wouldn't believe me. Besides, we have more to worry about than Alya and her Ladyblog set on discovering my identity."

"We do?"

"Yeah, we have to worry about how I'm going to face Adrien after headbutting him!"

Tikki just laughed. At least Marinette was laughing and smiling. That was important to her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everything gets worse  
> chloé gets better  
> i tell canon to get lost

Nothing got better. In fact, with each night that passed, the nightmares got worse. Of course, nothing had come close to Sunday's nightmare yet, and for that, Marinette counted herself lucky.

Akuma attacks happened as normal, and as Ladybug, she was still going strong. Twice, Alya had been called upon to be Rena Rouge and thrice Carapace. Once, both made an appearance when Chat Noir's kwami approached Marinette to say that he was unable to transform. Queen Bee had made an appearance twice.

She worried about Chat Noir, but when he showed up perfectly fine during the next akuma attack, she was pacified about his well-being. She did ask, but he said everything was okay and she needn't worry.

She hadn't asked him or Tikki about removing her earrings nor had she brought up the possibility of herself being akumatized.

As Marinette, things were not going so great.

Her mother took notice of her change in behaviour, but she attributed it to her stressing about school and all the design competitions she had been taking part in.

Alya was rather cautious around her as she had twice now mentioned the fact that she might be akumatized.

Her relationship with Nino hadn't changed much, but he too didn't think much of her akumatization fears.

She and Adrien seemed to have become friends, and she could tell his mind was always on something else. He was a little more concerned when he heard about her fears, but like the others, he told her that there was no chance it would happen.

But Chloé . . . now that was something else. She had overheard Marinette talking to Nino and surprised Marinette with a call that very same evening. She called under the pretence of reminding Marinette to sleep with her hair loose in order to let her scalp rest, but then she asked what Marinette would do if she got akumatized.

Marinette was stunned into silence by the question, but it didn't seem to faze Chloé. The blonde simply mused out loud that Chat Noir and Ladybug would save Marinette like they always do.

Marinette was equally terrified of Chloé's friendship as she was of being akumatized. 

* * *

"Ladybug! Can I ask you something?"

Ladybug stopped, poised to flee the scene, her yo-yo already latched onto a building that when she so required, would snatch her off the ground. She had expected Alya to try to speak to her, a small interview for the Ladyblog, but the tanned young girl was actually speaking to Chat Noir.

Chloé bent over with her hands on her knees, huffing slightly. "One moment, please," she said, lifting her index finger above her head.

Ladybug tugged at her yo-yo and the red disk flew back into her palm. "Take your time, Chloé," she said with a smile.

Chloe stood up and flicked her ponytail back. "There are two things I want to ask you, if you don't mind."

Ladybug nodded for her to continue.

"I was wondering if there was any chance I could . . . I could see Pollen? I know I'm not supposed to permanently have the miraculous, but maybe just for a short while now and then --"

"It's not up to me, Chloé."

"I know," Chloé said quickly, "but I also know that you know where to find Master Fu, who it _is_ up to."

Ladybug hesitated, but Chloé continued on without waiting for a response.

"As for the second thing, I wanted to ask for a favour."

"A favour?"

"Yeah, there's this girl and I'm . . . I'm _worried_ about her." Chloé's expression twisted slightly on the word 'worried' but it didn't stay like that for long. "I'm slightly concerned she might get herself akumatized, and as much as I don't particularly like her, I don't want to see the day _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ gets akumatized."

When she heard her name Ladybug froze. "You're _worried_ about _her_?"

Chloé nodded. "I overheard her talking to one of her loser friends, but they didn't seem to care much about it and I just . . . as a superhero, it's my duty to stop the akuma, right?"

Ladybug nodded as she smiled. "Yes, it is. I'll see if I can talk to Master Fu about letting Pollen visit sometime."

"And Marinette?"

"I'll watch over her," Ladybug promised, getting ready to leave again.

"Ladybug, wait!" The spotted heroine paused. "Don't . . . um, if you speak to her, don't tell her I said anything."

Ladybug smiled. "Your secret is safe with me, Chloé." 

* * *

"She's _worried_ about me?" Marinette stated, although it did sound like a question.

"I see you were right in your judgment," Master Fu said. "She has learned some good things about responsibility. It is just a matter of time before Chloé Bourgeois leaves all her old ways behind."

Marinette nodded. She hesitated, but she glanced at the old gramophone on the chest of drawers and nodded to herself. "Master Fu, I wanted to ask a favour -- on behalf of Chloé."

Master Fu nodded for her to continue.

"She asked if you might be willing to allow her to see Pollen some time. I understand that it's not very safe, but this is Chloé, she's special. I think that if she bonded with the kwami a little, Pollen might influence Chloé for the better."

"Hmm, it is a possibility. But is it wise to allow her permanent possession of the miraculous?"

"Permanent?" Marinette echoed. "No, I was just asking for a few hours at a time. I would be close by the whole time. Perhaps, while we are on the subject, we could allow both Alya and Nino to spend some time with the kwami as well?"

Wayzz seemed rather enthusiastic at this. "I do like the boy," he said, "and I'm fairly certain Trixx is fond of the girl."

Master Fu frowned in thought.

"It's all right if you don't think it's safe, Master Fu. I did tell her it might not be a good idea."

"I fear the resurface of the peacock miraculous," he said at last. "I fear it is in Hawkmoth's possession, and he is growing desperate. The time has come for him to call upon his allies. I fear the time has also come for you and Chat Noir to call upon your allies."

Marinette waited a few seconds before asking her question. "What exactly are you saying, master?"

"I am saying it might be time for your friends to join you and your partner as proper superheroes."

Marinette glanced at her kwami, who looked -- in all honesty -- a little afraid. "Are you going to . . . give them the miraculous? Permanently?" Tikki asked.

Master Fu took a long time to think before he finally nodded. "Yes. But I will not be giving the boxes. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have chosen your allies, and you have chosen well. Now you must give them the gift you had received all that time ago. Can I trust you to deliver the boxes to the respective owners?"

Marinette nodded seriously. "Yes, Master Fu." She glanced at the little green kwami. "Tikki and I will wait outside," she said, nodding to both Master Fu and Wayzz before standing up and leaving the pair to say their farewells. 

* * *

The three boxes were in Marinette's purse, guarded by Tikki. Alya glanced at the girl beside her.

"Are you okay, Marinette? You seem a little on edge."

Marinette smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, really."

She didn't hear a word about whatever Ms Bustier was saying about the complexity of the English language -- when would she ever need it anyway? -- and instead wondered how she should deliver the miraculous to each teenager. She eventually decided that she would slip Alya's and Nino's into their bags just before school ended. Trixx and Wayzz were both briefed on what they needed to tell their new owners.

She would hand-deliver Chloé's as Ladybug. 

* * *

"Knock knock."

Chloe looked up from her phone to see Ladybug perched on the windowsill. "Can I come in?"

"Of course!" Chloé cried, rushing to open the window a little wider. "Do you need my help?"

"Not right now," Ladybug said. "I need to talk to you."

She guided Chloé out onto the terrace and they sat down at the small round table.

"What is it?"

"I am about to entrust you with a very big responsibility. I put in many good words about you, and I made many promises of your positive development. Can you promise me that you will try to be a better person? That you will try to always be a better you than you were yesterday? I'm not asking you to change yourself completely. If you did that, you wouldn't be Chloé anymore. What I want from you is the promise that whatever you do from this day forward, you do it with good intentions and with the knowledge that you will be responsible for your actions. Can you promise me that?"

Chloé nodded eagerly.

Ladybug shook her head. "No, I want you to take a few seconds to think about what I've said and I want you to answer me honestly."

Chloé bit her lips. After a few seconds, she spoke. "I can promise to always try to be better, but . . . but I don't know if I'll always be able to. I can promise that I will take responsibility for my actions and that from now on, I will do only what I believe is right. I promise to do my best to do what you are asking, but I'm not sure if I will be able to."

Ladybug smiled. "Well done."

"What do you mean?"

"Your honesty means a lot. To me, it means that no matter how wrong you may be, you will try to fix your mistakes. It means you have what it takes."

"What it takes to do what?"

Ladybug put something on the table that Chloé couldn't quite see under her hands. She stared at Chloé with a serious expression on her masked face.

"Chloé Bourgeois, I have made the decision to trust you as my ally in the fight against evil. The time has come for us to band together, because it seems evil is gaining forces. We must work together now, and to do that, you need to be in touch with your kwami."

"With . . . _my_ . . . kwami?"

"Here is the Miraculous of Subjection," Ladybug said, pushing the box towards Chloé. "You will use it to fight against evil, and you will guard it like it is your own life. You will keep your kwami hidden from others, and you will do hour best not to attract much attention to yourself. Remember, you are already a target of Hawkmoth. If he finds out you are a permanent holder of the miraculous, he _will_ come after you. Trust no one when they ask you about it. Do you understand?"

Chloé nodded solemnly.

"Then welcome to the team, Queen Bee," Ladybug said, opening the box and allowing Pollen to emerge before the two girls. 

* * *

That night, Marinette slept more peacefully that she had ever done before. Tikki made a note to mention this to Master Fu the next time she saw him.

Of course, Marinette overslept and had to rush to school. But unlike the person she was before her nightmares began, Marinette wasn't in any hurry to crush the light feeling she had. She ate her breakfast calmly, dressed nicely, brushed her hair nicely, and walked leisurely to school.

"You're going to be late," Tikki said, popping her head out of Marinette's purse.

The teenager smiled at her kwami. "I haven't felt this happy in forever, Tikki. Well, it  _feels_ like forever anyway."

Marinette inhaled the morning air as the breeze whistled through her loose hair. Spring was near. She closed her eyes as she walked calmly. She knew she should hurry, but something told her to slow down and savour the moment. She listened, because she was afraid her nightmares would make a reappearance as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She couldn't remember the last time she had stopped to enjoy something as simple as a spring breeze. It felt like years had passed since the first nightmare, even though it couldn't have been more than a few months. Marinette often felt much older than she actually was, but today, right now, she felt like a fifteen-year-old girl.

She bumped into someone as she walked with her head in the clouds, briefly pausing to apologise before continuing up the few steps of the school.

And then she walked into Chloé. "Hey, loser. Did you lose your vision last night?"

Surprisingly, it didn't sound very insulting.

"Nice bag," Marinette commented, admiring the bee-shaped bag slung across Chloé's body. The little cartoon bee smiled at her. _A bit obvious_ , she thought to herself, fairly certain that's where Pollen was hiding.

Chloé looked surprised. "You're the first person that's noticed it. I see you discovered the wonders of loose hair."

"Says the girl who always has her hair in a high ponytail," Marinette countered.

"Touché. You're exceptionally late, by the way."

Marinette shrugged. "I had a good night's sleep for once. I wasn't about to ruin it by rushing around like a wild cat."

Chloé shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Marinette glanced around. "Where's Sabrina?"

"Where's your nerd friend?

"Touché."

Chloé nodded. "I don't know, she's around here somewhere. She's learnt how to make real friends, you know."

"And what about you?"

"Well, I'm talking to you and I haven't insulted anything yet, so I'd say I'm doing just fine."

Marinette grinned. "Can I ask a question?"

"Ask away, Dupain-Cheng."

"Why are you doing this? From the makeover weeks ago to this normal conversation. What's it all about?"

Chloé actually considered the question before answering. "It's been about proving that I'm worthy enough of the miraculous. Of course, I haven't received news about that yet."

 _Very good_ , Marinette mused to herself. "Prove yourself to who? I was the only other person there when you literally attacked me in the classroom."

"To Ladybug, and you'd never know when she's watching. But . . . being a -- a _good person_ . . . isn't only behaving well when you know you're being watched. Besides, you were asking for it, walking in here looking like a trash panda."

Marinette smiled. She felt as though nothing could dampen her spirits -- not even the new akuma attack.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a team up that i do not have the creativity to delve into happens

Ladybug landed next to her partner. "I have news for you, kitty cat, but I haven't had the chance to tell you. We'll talk after we're done here?"

Chat Noir nodded. "Anything for you, m'lady."

His teasing grin faded into a surprised expression when three other superheroes appeared behind his lady. "We need to learn to work together as a team, kitty cat, _all of us_ ," she added, looking at each hero in turn.

Four nods were directed at the spotted heroine, who then turned to assess their situation. 

* * *

"Pound it!" they shouted, five fists in a circle, as natural as if they had been doing it all their lives.

One by one, their miraculous began to beep.

"Shoot, I forgot about the five-minute thing," Ladybug said. "Okay, can we agree to meet at the top of the Eiffel Tower at four?"

"I have a study date at four," Rena Rouge said.

"Crap," Ladybug muttered. She'd forgotten about that.

"Can we make it five?" Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug glanced at Queen Bee and Carapace, who nodded. "Five, then. I'll see you all there."

One by one, the three new heroes left.

"You want to say something, Chat," Ladybug stated.

"It can wait until five," he said with a grin.

"No, it can't. What is it?"

Chat Noir took a deep breath. "I just . . . okay, why did you call them today? We could've handled this akuma by ourselves."

"We could've," Ladybug agreed, nodding, "but the point isn't whether we need help now or not. This is about something bigger than the two of us. And with Hawkmoth securing allies for himself, we need to do the same. Only thing is our allies need more practice, but here's the good part. They won't have to discover everything by themselves, because you and I are going to guide them. The five of us make a pretty good team, but you'll always be my partner, no matter what. We're Ladybug and Chat Noir, kitty, nothing can take that away from us."

Chat Noir smiled, and Ladybug knew she had removed all doubt from his mind.

"I'll see you at five with the rest of them, okay?"

Chat Noir nodded. "Purr-fect. Until then, adieu, my lady." he bowed deeply before vaulting off the ground. Ladybug smiled and shook her head. Her kitty cat could be amusing sometimes. 

* * *

"Nino! Where do you think you're going?"

"Uhh . . . school project with Adrien. His dad won't let him out of the house."

"It's four thirty, Nino."

"I'll be safe, mom," Nino said, kissing his mother's cheek before leaving the house. He waited until he had found a secure alley before allowing a little green kwami to materialise from underneath his cap.

"Wayzz, shell on!" 

* * *

"Get some rest, Adrien, you have a photo shoot tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, Nathalie."

Nathalie watched from the corner of her eye as the blond boy trudged into his room and closed the door. Sometimes, she worried about him.

Inside, Adrien lifted his overshirt and Plagg flew out. "Camembert first," the kwami said immediately.

Amused, Adrien tossed a slice into the air and the black kwami gulped it down greedily.

"Plagg, claws out!" 

* * *

"Is that the time already?"

"Yeah -- oh my god, is it four forty-five already?!"

"I promised my mom I'd get back before five," Alya said, already packing her things.

"Can I ask you for a big favour, Alya?" Marinette asked, also packing her school books away.

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell my parents I'm coming to your place? I want to get out of the house, but I just wanna be alone for a while."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

Marinette shrugged. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are out there, and apparently so are three new heroes. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Alya asked again.

Marinette nodded and smiled. Shrugging, Alya began the walk downstairs. She quickly told Marinette's parents that the girl would be going home with her if it was okay. They agreed and once the two were outside, they split ways.

In an alley two blocks away from the bakery, Alya opened her bag.

"Trixx, let's pounce!"

In the alley behind the bakery, Marinette opened her purse.

"Tikki, spots on!" 

* * *

"Claudette -- er, Chloé, are you already heading to bed? It's only five."

"Yes."

Audrey faltered for a moment as her daughter walked past her. "Are you honestly still upset about what happened three weeks ago?"

Chloé turned and raised her eyebrows. "Are you sorry for all the things you said?"

"Of course not. You needed to hear it, and who better than from your own mother?"

"Then yes, I am still upset. Good night."

Chloé stalked into her room and then out onto her terrace. Pollen flew out from her themed purse. "Are you ready, my queen?"

"Pollen, buzz on!" 

* * *

Ladybug smiled at Queen Bee as she dropped onto the platform. "Good, you're all here. The guardian of the miraculous box fears that Hawkmoth is gaining an ally who will aid both him and his akuma victims in the crusade to get my miraculous and Chat Noir's. The three of you need to also be aware that Hawkmoth will not hesitate to get his hands on any of your jewels as well. You need to keep it safe and protect your identities."

Rena Rouge opened her mouth, but Ladybug continued.

"Queen Bee has already outed herself, and she is vulnerable to Hawkmoth because we don't know where he is or how to find him. I've gathered you all together to help Chat Noir and I take his miraculous and free his kwami. Can you promise to put your differences with Chloé aside and work with her and us for good?"

Carapace nodded first. "No problem, Ladybug. So, my kwami said something about permanent possession?"

Ladybug nodded. "The three of you will no have full control of your kwami and full possession of the miraculous. You will not take advantage of the powers you receive, because I have sworn to the guardian of the miraculous box that I will retrieve your miraculous if you misuse it."

"Yes, Ladybug," Queen Bee said. "I understand."

"Good. Now, you are not obligated to appear during every single akuma attack, but I won't complain if Chat Noir and I need the help. _Do not_ let anyone discover your identity. It could put you and your friends and family in danger. Are we clear?"

Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee nodded firmly.

"That's all I wanted to say. Anyone else have something they'd like to say?"

When no one said anything, Ladybug told them to go home and learn about their duties and their kwami. Rena Rouge and Carapace nodded and left.

"Thank you," Queen Bee eventually said, "for choosing us as the holders of the miraculous. Especially me, thank you for giving it back to me after the way I acted with it the first time around."

"That's very noble of you," Chat Noir said, stepping up next to his partner. "To acknowledge that you were given a second chance."

Queen Bee smiled. "Ladybug chose me even after I misused the miraculous. I won't make the same mistake again."

"I'm very proud of you, Chloé," Ladybug said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You might not be _exceptional_ or whatever, but you truly are miraculous."

Chat Noir wondered where he had heard that before, and he expected Queen Bee to beam like she did every time Ladybug noticed her, but she just groaned and put her head in her hands.

"Don't _remind_ me!"

Ladybug giggled and then it clicked. He had heard it during Chloé's presentation.

"Go home, Queen Bee, and keep Pollen safe. Please remember that you especially need to take extra care to keep your kwami and your miraculous hidden."

"I know, Ladybug," Queen Bee said convincingly. "I'll be careful. Good night," she said to them both before releasing the striped yellow spinning top and buzzing away.

"You made a good choice giving Chloé the miraculous," Chat Noir said. "She's becoming a better person."

Ladybug nodded. "I was hoping that would happen. Don't you need to get home? I've heard your kwami is very insistent about his desire for camembert."

"How do you know that?" Chat Noir asked with an amused grin. She was right.

"Remember Audrey Bourgeois? Style Queen? Plagg helped me defeat her and save Adrien -- and all of Paris. I gave him some camembert when he asked."

Chat Noir nodded. "Yeah, he'll be fine for some time. We can remain transformed indefinitely, you know, as long as we don't use our superpowers. What about you? Don't you need to go get some sleep?"

Ladybug shook her head. "We can stay up here for a while."

She didn't admit that she was afraid to go to bed, afraid to sleep.

Afraid of the nightmares.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> worry not about the short chapter, I have the next one ready for editing already =D


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets even worse   
> Chloé gets even better
> 
> All concerned parties are confused (except Chloé)

With the arrival of spring break, came the departure of Marinette's primary distraction -- school. Ladybug was fine, but Marinette. . .

On Monday, Marinette woke up screaming for her partner.

On Tuesday, Marinette cried until she woke up.

On Wednesday, Marinette almost transformed when she woke up and took off to make sure her friends were still alive.

On Thursday, Marinette nearly attacked her mother when the woman tried to shake her daughter awake.

On Friday, Marinette was found sitting the same way she had been when her mother left her room. She hasn't slept at all.

By Saturday evening, Sabine spoke to her husband.

"I'm worried about her. She's become a . . . a zombie. She doesn't sleep, she barely eats, she doesn't talk anymore, Alya hasn't come back since Sunday because Marinette isn't talking to anyone, she doesn't even react to _Adrien's_ name anymore. Every night she's having such terrible dreams that she's either screaming or crying, sometimes both."

"What do you think we should do?" Tom asked, glancing at the girl who was sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, a mug of now-cold hot cocoa in her hand, staring blankly ahead.

"Maybe we should take her to see someone. A psychologist?"

"Maybe we should talk to her first," Tom suggested. Sabine nodded and the couple approached their daughter.

"Marinette? Honey, are you okay?"

Marinette hummed a response that said yes, but her blank expression said otherwise.

"Are you sure?" her father asked, sitting down next to her. "We're already halfway through the holiday, and you haven't gone out once. Don't you want to go out with your friends? Ice skating? A movie?"

Marinette shook her head.

Sabine glanced at her husband before looking at Marinette. "Maybe you'd like to invite Alya over? I know she hasn't come over in a while."

Marinette shrugged.

"Sweetie, you look like you haven't slept in days, don't you want to rest a little?"

Marinette suddenly understood what Chat Noir meant when he said he felt claustrophobic in his own home.

"I'd like to --" Marinette coughed slightly, unaware that her throat was so dry. "I want to go out."

"That's great!" Tom said.

"For the remainder of spring break."

"Err . . . what?"

"I have a friend that I can stay with. I just want to get away from everything for a while." She looked at her mother. "I think I'll feel better if I get a little break from everything I'm familiar with."

"Where is this friend of yours? And who is it?"

Marinette bit her lip. "Maman . . . I want to be alone, and the best place is with this girl, because I know she'll leave me to be. I know it's asking a lot, but would you please trust me to go? Just for a week?"

Sabine glanced at her husband, who shrugged slightly.

"How far away will you be?"

"Within walking distance," Marinette said with the slightest smile. "I mean it, Maman, I just feel . . . claustrophobic."

"I don't know, honey. Get a good night's rest and we'll talk about this tomorrow?"

Marinette nodded solemnly, knowing she wouldn't be closing her eyes tonight either. 

* * *

"Tikki!" Marinette hissed. "Tikki, wake up!"

"Marinette? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I was," Marinette said, "and now I don't want to. Here, have a cookie."

Tikki eyed the treat Marinette held out. "Why?"

"You're going to need your strength. I need to transform."

"No, you don't. You need to get back in bed. It won't help anybody if Paris' saviour is too exhausted to fight."

" _Paris_ ," Marinette scoffed, rolling her eyes. "This isn't about Ladybug, Tikki. This is about me. I need to go somewhere for a while."

"Just for a while," Tikki said, taking the cookie.

"Just for a while," Marinette repeated. 

* * *

Chloé was fast asleep. The tapping on the window woke Pollen, who then woke Chloé.

"Pollen, what part of we need beauty sleep didn't you understand?" Chloé asked, sitting up and lifting her sleep mask to rest just above her eyebrows.

"There's someone at the window."

"I didn't know kwami could have silly nightmares like that," Chloé said with a teasing smile, already getting out of her bed and slipping her feet into her slippers.

She pulled back the curtain and turned back to the yellow kwami. "See? There's nothing out here."

"Hello, Ladybug!" Pollen said enthusiastically.

Chloé turned around as was surprised to see the red and black heroine standing on the balcony, looking around. Chloé quickly opened the glass door. "Ladybug? Is something wrong? Is there an akuma? In the middle of the night?"

"There's no akuma," Ladybug said softly.

"Then . . . what's wrong? We usually sit for tea in the daytime."

Ladybug cracked a smile at Chloé's little joke, but it left all too soon. "I need somewhere to hide," she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she was cold.

"Why? Is someone after you? Hawkmoth?"

Ladybug shook her head. "I just need to be away from everyone, and who would think to look for me here, with you?"

"Um, thanks to Dupain-Cheng's nerd friend, I'm pretty sure by now all of Paris knows you and I talk sometimes."

"Nobody's going to be looking for _Ladybug_ , because I'll still show up when I'm needed. My civilian self would never think to ask you to hide here, or at least, everyone else thinks I wouldn't think of it."

"Oh, I see. Well, make yourself comfortable. If you don't mind sharing, you can have the right side of my bed, or I'll sleep on my chaise and you --"

"No, I don't want to trouble you, Chloé. I'll sleep on the --"

"Please, Ladybug," Chloé scoffed. "You look like you haven't slept in days. Don't be ridiculous, you're sleeping on a proper bed."

"I haven't, and no. This is your room."

"Fine, we'll share the bed then. It's big enough for about four people, so we should be fine. Do you plan on sleeping transformed or would you like something to wear? I promise not to look."

Ladybug smiled. "I didn't think of that."

"That's fine, Pollen says kwami can power our suits indefinitely if we don't use our superpowers, so your kwami should manage to let you sleep the night. If you want to give your kwami something to eat, you can do it while I go and fetch you an extra blanket. You're shivering."

"Thank you, Chloé."

Chloé smiled briefly, then essentially wrestled Ladybug under the covers.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm locking the door after me so no one else comes in while you're detransformed, okay?"

Ladybug nodded and Chloé left. "Spots off," she whispered.

"You said just a while!"

"I didn't specify how long a while is," Marinette shrugged.

"Hello, Tikki," Pollen said.

Tikki smiled at her friend. "Hello, Pollen. How is it being Chloé's kwami?"

Pollen shrugged. "She's nice. She takes good care of me. Surprisingly, I couldn't ask for a better owner. I think you can trust her with your identity."

Marinette glanced between the two kwami in front of her. "I don't know."

"You need to sleep, and right now, I don't care how you do it, as long as you do sleep."

Marinette smiled at her kwami. "You know I can't sleep, Tikki."

"Why not?" Pollen enquired. "Do you suffer from regular nightmares?"

Marinette nodded. "They just get worse every night."

"It's me!" Chloé called out as she walked in. Marinette ducked under covers, eliciting a laugh from the two kwami. Chloé rolled her eyes, but she grinned as she set the blankets down at the foot of the bed. "Okay, Bug-brain, either you show me your face or you say spots on, because you'll suffocate under there."

"I'm not ready," the muffled voice came.

Chloé shrugged and left to make sure the glass door was closed again, while Marinette whispered to her kwami about whether or not she should reveal her identity.

"Okay, Ladybug, you realise that you can just transform if you aren't ready to reveal your identity, right?"

"Uhh . . . I don't really want to sleep all transformed, but I don't really know how to tell you who I am."

Chloe tugged at the duvet. "At least you've made a decision. Come on, we haven't got all night to play guessing games, and you still need more blankets under that duvet or you'll freeze."

"Wait, give me a minute."

Chloé was getting agitated. It was nearly morning already, and she had only planned on waking up at ten a.m. Of course, who would say no to a superhero seeking refuge?

"Okay, cut the crap, Dupain-Cheng, I don't have time for this."

Tikki's jaw dropped, Pollen giggled, and Marinette sat up so fast, Chloé wondered how the top half of her body was still attached to the bottom.

"How long have you known?" she shouted.

Chloé shrugged. "I've . . . suspected for a while, then you passed out and coincidentally, Ladybug was unavailable. Besides, you're crap at excuses."

"Huh, so you aren't as dumb as I thought."

At first, Chloé thought Marinette was throwing an insult, then she noticed the amused grin Ladybug always wore every time she referenced Chloé's documentary.

"Ha ha, Dupain-Cheng, very funny. So, why are you in _my_ room of all places? I'm sure your nerd friend would hide you for a night with no problems."

Marinette bit her lip nervously. "That's the thing, Chloé. I want to be away from them _all_ . . . for the rest of spring break."

Chloé turned around, surprised. "You can't hide in here for a whole week, Dupain-Cheng."

"I can and I will."

Chloé sighed. "Fine, get to sleep. We'll talk about your unhealthy behaviour in the morning. Some of us require beauty sleep -- and you could use some." 

Marinette rolled her eyes, but she admitted that Chloé's mildly brutal attitude helped keep her sane. 

* * *

Chloé woke up at ten exactly. Marinette was still asleep. Chloé could just make out her small figure under the two blankets on the far side of the bed.

It _was_ a large bed.

By the time Chloé had showered, dressed, done her hair and makeup, Marinette had begun to whimper in her sleep.

"What's wrong with Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé asked as she walked back into her bedroom, filing her nails.

"She's having another nightmare," Tikki said. "They're a nightly occurrence. Sometimes she wakes up screaming for certain people. Most often is Chat Noir."

"Makes sense," Chloé said, tossing her nail file onto her dresser. "The mangy cat _is_ her partner after all."

Her intention was to shove Marinette awake, but she barely took three steps before Marinette sat up sharply, frantically looking around her strange surroundings.

"Chloé!"

"Yes?" Chloé responded sarcastically, although she was extremely surprised to hear Marinette calling out for her in what sounded very much like fear.

"You're okay," Marinette whispered to herself. "You're okay, Marinette, it's just a nightmare. Just a nightmare, Marinette. Just a nightmare."

Chloé watched as Marinette's hands covered her ears, and she rocked slightly, chanting her reassurance to herself.

"It's the only way she gets over the nightmare," Tikki said softly. It hurt her to see her owner in such pain, but if Marinette didn't speak about her nightmares, there was nothing Tikki could do.

"Gets _over_ it? She's _not_ over it!" Chloé hissed, her arm flying out towards the shaking teenager. "It's _haunting_ her!"

Leaving Pollen to console the red kwami, Chloé walked towards Marinette. She took a deep breath, threw her ego and her pride out the window, sat down in front of Marinette and gently pried her hands away from her ears.

"Hey," she said softly, "look at me."

Marinette shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut and gripping Chloé's hands tightly.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Chloé said, a little firmly, "look at me."

Marinette shook her head again. "I can't."

"Why not? What do you see? Hmm, what do you see when you see my face? Come on, Marinette, what do you see?"

Marinette didn't open her eyes, but for the first time, she honestly spoke about what she had dreamt.

"You are on the ground. The top is in pieces. The hair clip is cracked slightly. Your suit is torn in some places and missing in others. Your chest hasn't moved in over thirty seconds. Your eyes are still open. You've been dead for at least half a minute."

Chloé inhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a few seconds before speaking again to Marinette. "Open your eyes and look at me. Do it, or this nightmare is going to haunt you like the rest of them."

Slowly, Marinette opened her eyes and lifted her head to see the blonde smiling warmly at her. She was so terrified of what she had just seen in her nightmare, the sight of a smiling Chloé didn't even shock her.

"Look at me carefully, Marinette." Chloé's sharp blue eyes flicked from side to side, looking Marinette in her baby blue eyes. "I'm okay, do you see?"

To prove her point, Chloé took a deep breath.

"I'm okay, see?"

Slowly, Marinette nodded.

"Are _you_ okay?"

Marinette shook her head. She realised how tightly she had been holding on to Chloé's hands and quickly let go. Chloé didn't move her hands just yet, waiting to see if Marinette still needed reassurance that Chloé was still in front of her.

"When was the last time you ate properly?"

Marinette shrugged. "I don't know," she whispered.

"Days," Tikki supplied. " _I've_ actually eaten more than she has."

Chloé slid off the bed and took Marinette's hands, gently pulling the girl up. "Come on," she said softly, "you look like Hawkmoth personally paid you a visit."

"He might as well have," Marinette muttered, allowing Chloé to lead her into the bathroom, when Chloé sat her down on a chair and used a face cloth to clean Marinette's face before giving the girl a little makeup and a nice hairstyle.

"Well, would you look at that," Chloé said, standing behind Marinette as the pair stared at their reflections. Chloé stood behind the bluenette, her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "Guess who doesn't look like a trash panda anymore."

Marinette smiled.

"Right, you go sit outside and enjoy the morning air, I'm going to get us some breakfast. Tikki, do make sure she doesn't fall asleep while I'm gone. Pollen, with me."

Tikki hovered behind Marinette as she slowly walked outside, clutching the thinner blanket around herself. "Are you all right, Marinette?"

"Yeah," she said softly, a faint smile on her lips. "I'm okay."

She trailed her hand over the back of the white chair she had sat in every time she visited Chloé as Ladybug. Chloé knew now, she had known for a while. Marinette was surprised Chloé hadn't spoken about it yet, or told everyone.

And Chloé was being _nice_ to her.

Marinette hadn't expected it at all.

After a few seconds of Marinette sitting in the chair, looking at the view Chloé got daily, the blonde returned carrying a tray of food.

"So, tell me, as a baker's daughter, what's the best items on this tray?" Chloé asked, sliding the tray onto the table in front of Marinette.

"Chloé . . . I'm not hungry."

"That's beside the point," Chloé said, taking her usual seat during teatime with Ladybug. "Eat up, breadhead, we have a lot to do today."

"We do? My plan was to just hide in your room until I absolutely had to go back to school -- or you know, go be Ladybug."

"Oh, no, that's not happening," Chloé said, grabbing a muffin from the tray. "I have the whole day planned, and if you want me to keep your hiding place a secret, you're gonna do my daily routine with me."

Marinette's expression twisted slightly as Chloé dumped a croissant in her hand and ordered her to eat.

What exactly did Chloé's daily routine consist of?


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gives Chloé a near heart failure at the mall

"Come on, Dupain-Cheng! There's only so many hours in a day!"

"I look like an idiot!" Marinette called from inside Chloé's walk-in closet.

"Okay, and? If you don't come out of there, I'm going to barge in!"

With a sigh, Marinette opened the closet door. "How do I look?"

Chloé shrugged, studying the outfit Marinette had chosen. Chloé had laid out three outfits for her to choose from, and she had to admit that Marinette had made the right choice.

The pale pink t-shirt suited her much better than it had Chloé, and the floral embroidery on the denim shorts just had something . . . something ' _Marinette_ ' about them. The high top sneakers in the same pink as the t-shirt had been worn once and then never again and Chloé nodded approvingly at the way they completed Marinette's outfit.

"Here's your purse," she said, tossing the bag to Marinette. "Pollen dropped two cookies in there for your kwami."

"Wow, thanks."

"Keep the shorts," Chloé added as she grabbed her own purse. "Suits you better."

Marinette smiled a little as she pushed her bangs to the side.

"Come on, we have things to do. Don't worry, no one will even recognise you."

"They might recognise _you_ , and then --"

"And they'll stay away. I'm not very liked, you know."

Marinette shook her head and smiled.

"Listen, trash panda, either you come with me by yourself or I drag you out of here by your hair."

"I'm coming, relax. Tikki!"

"Pollen!"

The two kwami zipped through the air and into their respective purses.

"Where are we going?" Marinette asked as they stepped into the elevator.

"First things first, you need a makeover. You're depressed and sleep-deprived and frankly, that's a very disturbing image for me. So, if you're willing, we get you a haircut."

Marinette frowned as she thought about it. "Okay. A haircut sounds nice." 

* * *

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG, _WHAT_ HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Marinette covered her smile with her hand, but for the first time in weeks, her eyes were twinkling with suppressed laughter.

Chloé nearly collapsed and her butler, Jean, quickly guided her to a chair. "Mademoiselle, are you okay?"

"I'm going to pass out," she announced.

Marinette smiled at the reflection of Chloé as she sat in the chair at Chloé's personal hairdresser. "You said a change would be good."

"I said _change_!" Chloé snapped, sitting up sharply. "I didn't say chop off all your hair!"

"I figured a Chinese bob would look cute."

"Sure, it _looks_ cute," Chloé said, sinking into the chair as her horrorstruck expression returned. "But is it _practical_? Absolutely not! Was it a smart choice to chop off twelve inches of hair? No!"

"Chloé, it was more like _eight_ inches."

"It looks like twenty!"

Marinette continued to smile. "I like it," she said, turning her head from side to side to see her hair. "This is much more manageable."

"Oh, for _you_ , I'm sure," Chloé muttered under her breath. "I'm sure _Ladybug_ would argue differently."

Marinette shook her head, but her smile never left her face. "Well, then that's Ladybug's problem."

Chloé's eyes widened. "You heard that?"

Marinette nodded. "Mmhm. So, what's next?"

"A nap," Chloé said. "I need to recover from the shock you just gave me."

And for the first time since the nightmares began plaguing her, Marinette laughed. Tikki was so surprised that she nearly phased through the purse to see if she was hearing right.

Chloé smiled. Step one: make Marinette laugh again.

Step two: accomplished. 

* * *

"I told you, I'm not hungry."

"I call bullshit," Chloé snapped, fed up.

Marinette's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped.

Chloé shoved a forkful of her own pie in Marinette's mouth with a triumphant grin. "I didn't know you were so surprised by foul language."

The bluenette glared at Chloé as she was forced to eat the piece of pie. "I'm not hungry, I--"

"Go ahead and keep talking, I'll shove another bite down your throat."

Marinette firmly shut her mouth.

"Look at it this way, trash panda, if you eat that slice of pie yourself, I won't force you to eat again until supper time."

"Promise?" Marinette asked.

Chloé nodded. "Promise."

Marinette sighed and picked up her fork.

"When we get back to the hotel, you're going to call your parents."

Marinette nearly choked on the pie.

Chloé glanced up. "Problem?"

"I'm not telling them where I am."

"Of course not. You just have to talk to them for a while. It's unfair on them to run away from home. For now, tell me about your nightmares."

Marinette shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Chloé nodded. "Okay, but answer this honestly. What did you dream about last night?"

"You were dead."

"And?"

"And . . ." Slowly, the realisation dawned on Marinette that she didn't remember all the details. And not just that, she didn't feel anything as she thought about it. She knew she had seen Queen Bee's dead body, but that was just it. It was as if it was something that didn't even remotely affect her . . . like a nightmare should've been after being awake for so long.

"Well?"

"I don't remember," Marinette said softly.

Chloé nodded. "Talking about your nightmares makes them seem trivial and of less importance, even if they're about your deepest and darkest fears. Also, when you talk about them, you put them out there in the open, almost as if you're giving them a tangible body . . . and you can easily defeat something you can touch. When it's all in your head, you can't reach it. It stays there and it grows until it's all you can think about. And then you become a trash panda like you were yesterday."

It was just like Chloé, Marinette quickly discovered, to say something so profound and then kill it with a stupid insult. Somehow, it reminded her of Chat Noir. He too had his deep and emotional moments that he quickly brushed aside with a flirty joke.

Marinette stared at Chloé. The girl clearly knew what she was talking about. "What kind of nightmares tortured _you_?"

Chloé glanced at their barely-eaten pies. "I'll make you a deal, breadhead. If you talk about yours, I'll talk about mine."

Marinette nodded. "Okay."

"Eat up, Dupain-Cheng, you'll need your strength to convince your parents not to send a search party after you."

Marinette winced as she thought about the daunting task ahead of her. 

* * *

Chloé relaxed on her bed with her phone and watched Marinette pace the length of the room, her own phone at her ear.

"Yes, Maman . . . Okay, I will . . . Yes . . . I promise . . . Okay, bye . . . Yes, I will . . . Okay, Maman . . . Yes . . . I won't forget, tell papa I said I love him too . . . Okay, bye."

"Well?" Chloé asked when Marinette dropped the phone on the bed with a sigh.

"My mother wants me to call every day to check in. She said she won't ask where I am anymore as long as I give her daily updates."

Chloé nodded. Step two: get Marinette to talk to her parents again.

Step two: accomplished.

"Seems reasonable. We have about two hours to kill before you have patrol with your silly cat. I'll leave out something for you two to eat on your way. In the meantime, let's work on your appearance."

"Let's do what now?"

Chloe stood up. "Makeup lessons. You want to hide the bags you've gotten from all your sleepless nights, so that'll be lesson number one."

Surprisingly, Marinette nodded without further complaint. 

* * *

"Evening, m'lady."

"Evening, Chat Noir."

"A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl," the hero said, place a white rose in her hair. "I like the new hairdo, by the way."

Ladybug smiled. It seemed Tikki had a solution to every problem -- the ones that she _could_ fix, anyway. The transformation now provided a new hairstyle, pulling the top portion of her hair into a small little ponytail that kept her bangs out of her eyes and most of her hair from flying forward and into her eyes.

"I needed a change," she said, pulling the rose out from behind her ear and twirling it in her fingers. "I see you've moved on from red roses."

"Well, if my lady isn't going to accept my proclamations of love, then perhaps she would accept a symbolism of her pure heart?"

Ladybug smiled and then tucked the rose into Chat Noir's hair. "Purr-haps," she said. "But first, patrol." She tapped his nose lightly before wrapping her yo-yo around the nearest chimney and flying off.

Chat Noir smiled as he vaulted off in the opposite direction.

About half an hour later, he noticed Ladybug standing on a random roof, staring at a familiar mansion.

The Agreste mansion.

"What's the matter, m'lady?"

Ladybug barely even flinched, even though her partner had surprised her. "Nothing," she said softly. "Come on, a _good friend_ of mine left some treats for you." 

* * *

"How do you know that's for us?" Chat Noir asked as Ladybug dropped into what had quickly become her chair and grabbed a cookie.

"I told you, Chloé and I are good friends."

"Would you quite referencing my stupid documentary?" Chloé asked as she stepped out onto the terrace, looking quite miffed.

"Wow, what's got your antennae in a twist?" Chat Noir asked, finally sitting down and taking a croissant.

"Err . . . a phone in my room has been ringing all evening," Chloé said, dragging a third chair over. "And I can't find it," she added, glancing at Ladybug, who subtly offered Chloé and apologetic smile.

"I'm sure it'll stop soon," she said.

"It better," Chloé said threateningly. "Or I'm going to murder it and it's owner."

"Well, thank you for the treats, but I must get going." Chat Noir stood up and stretched.

Ladybug stood up as well and tickled him under his chin. "Get some rest, kitty cat. Remember, you're patrolling with Carapace tomorrow night."

"Yes, ma'am," Chat Noir saluted both girls before vaulting off in the direction the pair of superheroes had come.

"You like him," Chloé teased as she noticed Ladybug watch the leather-clad superhero until she could no longer see him.

"What? No, of course not. Well, he's sweet and all, but I have my eyes on someone else. I'll be back."

And just in case someone was watching the hotel terrace, Ladybug circled back around until she tumbled through Chloé's bedroom window. "Spots off," she said, waiting for the pink glow to consume her body.

"I'll be with Pollen," Tikki said. Marinette nodded and then pulled the curtain away from the glass door.

"You missed it, breadhead. Ladybug and Chat Noir just left a few seconds ago."

Marinette appreciated Chloé acting as if she didn't know who Ladybug was.

"What a pity," Marinette said with a smile as she took her seat again.

"Have something," Chloé said, gesturing to the tray. Marinette shook her head.

Chloé furrowed her eyebrows. So she ate perfectly fine when she was Ladybug. It was when she was just Marinette that she seemed unable to do normal things. Chloé was pretty sure it was because soon, Marinette would go to sleep, and she was probably afraid to do so.

"Suit yourself. I did promise I'll only force you to eat at mealtimes. Come on, we have another big day tomorrow."

"We do?"

Chloé stood up and stretched, yawning loudly. "Tomorrow we get you a new wardrobe. You can't keep wearing my things and I doubt you want to drop in at home to fetch some things."

Marinette nodded in agreement and followed Chloé back through the sliding doors. 

* * *

Chloe woke up to a strange, scratching sound. "What the . . .? Dupain-Cheng? What are you doing there?"

Marinette didn't answer. She was curled up in the chair in the far corner of Chloé's room, a deep frown on her face as she scratched on a notebook with a pencil, biting her lip in concentration.

In the dark.

"Marinette?"

Chloé let out a soft groan as she slid out of the bed and trudged over to the girl hunched over the notebook.

"Marinette," she said firmly. "What are you doing?"

"Changes," the girl mumbled. "I need more changes."

Curious, Chloé moved to the side and craned her neck to see the sketch the way Marinette was looking at it. "What's that?"

"A big change," Marinette responded absently.

Chloé was mildly afraid of the image depicted on the hotel paper pad.

It was definitely Marinette, but it didn't look like her at all. The girl in the drawing wore a dark suit, a butterfly-themed pin where a bowtie was likely to be. On her head was a familiar hat with a feather in the ribbon, and her short hair fell pin straight around her face. She held a staff a little taller than her in the right hand, with a gem in the top part that Chloé assumed should be glowing. And the girl's expression . . . Chloé thought it looked rather malicious. The butterflies that surrounded her weren't shaded with the pencil at all, leading Chloé to believe they were white. Hovering at the girl's left shoulder was a butterfly that was as dark as the pencil would allow. On the floor, where Marinette had drawn no butterflies at all, were a set of earrings, one cracked in half.

And then Chloé understood what she was looking at.

The Marinette on the paper had lost Tikki and her earrings. The Marinette on the paper had become Hawkmoth. 

* * *

The notepad lay on Chloé's nightstand. She and Marinette were sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing each other.

"The worst one was the night before that stupid martial arts lesson."

"What was it about?"

"It was supposed to be about all of us teaming up against Hawkmoth. But I got akumatized, as Ladybug. One minute the four of you were fighting me, the next I was sitting on the floor and looking at the damage I had caused. You were still bleeding, Rena Rouge had stopped breathing already, Carapace still had his eyes open and Chat Noir . . . Chat just managed to say 'welcome back, Ladybug' before he died too."

Chloé waited a few seconds, but Marinette didn't continue. "That wasn't the end of the nightmare, was it?"

Marinette shook her head. "Somehow, he figured out how to akumatize all his old villains and they were coming at me, two by two. I had neither the skills nor the energy to fight them all off, and I couldn't bear to pass on the miraculous jewels to other people."

"So you put it on . . . all five of them?"

Marinette nodded. "All five of them. I woke up before the transformation was completed."

"Wow, that's . . . that's disturbing."

Marinette shook her head and gave Chloé a small smile. "We had a deal, Bourgeois, don't think I forgot."

"Oh, yeah," Chloé said, her expression twisting. "I was kinda hoping you did."

"Why? What's your deep dark secret?"

Chloe glanced down, picking at a loose thread on the blanket. "When I was about four years old, my mom started going on her business trips. She never really had time for me, but I guess that was okay. She was working and she gave me everything I asked for."

"Everything except her time," Marinette said.

Chloé nodded. "Yeah . . . by the time I was eight, I barely saw her around. Sometimes it would be days before I saw her. I remember it was about a week or so before my tenth birthday. Daddy said he was going to plan my party all by himself to surprise my mom and show her that he could look after me, you know? Everything was planned and we had the invitations to send out ready and then . . . and then she said no. She said I couldn't throw a party because she needed to work. Daddy couldn't say no to her, so the party was cancelled."

Marinette remained silent, allowing Chloé to phrase herself properly, the way she had done when Marinette was struggling to talk.

"That night, I dreamt of the miraculous box and all the jewels it housed, even though I didn't know that until recently. Still, it was pretty terrifying back then. I didn't know the man I dreamt about was Hawkmoth until I got akumatized. I knew it was dark and scary and I've always hated butterflies since then because they were so closely entwined with this scary man that I dreamt about. I also dreamt about another holder, a woman. She was beautiful, eerily so. I don't know where she fitted in. She and Hawkmoth, as I now know him, fought for something. I still don't know what.

"I was so excited when you came to me and told me that I'm now a permanent miraculous holder, because ever since you stepped up to Hawkmoth, being like you is all I ever wanted. And I screwed up the first time and you still trusted me again. In conclusion," Chloé said quickly to avoid talking longer about the repressed memories of her old nightmare, "my deep dark secret fear is that one day, I'll have to fight Hawkmoth by myself . . . and you'll be the one he sends to stop me."

"In conclusion," Marinette copied, "we've both dreamt about my akumatization."

"Huh, I guess we did. Hey, by the way, good morning."

Marinette turned around to see the faint light of the morning sunlight filtering in from under Chloé's heavy curtain. "Good morning, I guess," she replied, allowing Chloé to take the focus off the nightmares.

Chloé jumped off the bed. "Come on, breadhead, we've got a lot of shopping to do today."

Marinette sighed and flopped backwards. The sketch she had drawn had left her mind, and unless she saw it again, she wouldn't even think of it for quite some time. 

* * *

Marinette's dark hair fell over her eyes like a curtain as she stared at the ground while they walked.

"Chin up, Dupain-Cheng. The best way to get over your issues is to pretend you don't have them."

"I'm pretty sure that's not healthy," Marinette said, lifting her head slightly to look at the blonde.

"Neither is running away from your issues but you don't seem to have a problem with that."

"Touché," Marinette said with a slight smile.

"Come on," Chloé said, grabbing Marinette's arm and dragging her into a store. "I have some nice ideas for your new wardrobe."

They looked around for a while before Chloé handed a few full outfits to Marinette -- down to the accessories -- and showed her to the nearest dressing room. Chloé sat down on the chair outside and grabbed the closest magazine.

"Pathetic," she muttered, gazing at pictures of models. "This should feature _Adrien_."

"You are insane," Marinette stated as she pulled back the curtain to reveal Chloé's chosen items.

Chloé stared at Marinette in awe. "Guess you aren't as ugly as I thought, Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette rolled her eyes and turned around to look at her reflection. The jeans Chloé chose was relatively okay, in a deep blue and ankle length. The shoes were fine too, tan ankle boots with a small half-inch heel. The accessories were very nice -- Marinette quite liked the bracelet and it's matching necklace. But the shirt . . . it was bright white, but far too short for Marinette's comfort. It featured a tied knot in front, high enough to expose her midriff, and the sleeves were meant to be folded up over her elbows.

"Suits your new hairdo," Chloé said from the couch. "Come on, next."

With a sigh, Marinette disappeared behind the curtain again. When she next emerged, Chloé's nose turned up in disgust.

"No no no no _no_. Take it off and give that dress back to me. Absolutely not, you look like a fashion disaster."

Marinette smiled, clearly in agreement as she stepped back behind the curtain. She stuck her arm out a moment later with the dress on its hanger which Chloé traded with a different one.

She studied the dress for a second. "Hey, Dupain-Cheng, pass me the white clutch and the gold flats."

"Why?" Marinette asked, sliding the said items under the curtain.

"I want to try it on," Chloé said, walking into the adjacent changing room.

Marinette was waiting for her when she was done and the pair smiled at their reflections in the large mirror. "Well, don't we look cute," Chloé mused.

Marinette suddenly snorted. "You have curls," she squeaked, pointing at Chloé's loose hair.

"Haven't we gone through this already?" Chloé asked. She then ignored Marinette's amused snorting and studied their reflections. The dresses were similar in length only.

Marinette's was white and featured a little patch of deep purple shimmer dust along the trim and the neckline. The sleeves were capped and it came with a belt in the same purple as the trim.

Chloé's, on the other hand, was a colour somewhere between orange and gold, with thin, golden straps criss-crossing on her back. 

The flats she had chosen for Marinette were white with a small little bow on the front of each shoe in bright purple because it matched the dress. The flats she wore were gold and so were the little bows.

While she had paired her own dress with a yellow clutch, Marinette carried an identical one in a faded lilac colour.

"We look like our mom dressed us like twins," Marinette said, turning to see the back of the dress.

Chloé shrugged. "Well, you definitely look better than you did three minutes ago."

"Oh, shut up."

Chloé grinned. "Get, you still have one more to show me. I think I'll take this outfit for myself."

She practically shoved Marinette into the changing room before walking into her own. She stared at her reflection for a few seconds. She was being a hero, right? Helping Marinette out when she practically hated the girl seemed like something heroic, but since Marinette tumbled into her room as Ladybug on Sunday night, Chloé had begun to wonder exactly why she and Marinette had a constant feud going on.

After all, it wasn't jealousy . . . was it?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé starts playing matchmaker

Marinette and Chloé walked through the mall with their bags in hand. Chloé had decided that they needed to get Marinette her own makeup kit and wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Oh, look, it's Adrien!"

Chloé opened her mouth to call out to her darling Adrien who was walking beside Nino, but Marinette squeaked and dropped her head, raising the parcels ever so slightly. Chloé closed her mouth and guided Marinette into the next store.

"What was that about, Dupain-Cheng?"

"I don't want them to see me. They'll ask why I'm with you and then they'll put it together that I'm staying with you and Nino will tell Alya and Alya will tell my parents and I don't want anyone to know where I am."

Chloé sighed. "Fair enough. Speaking of them, don't forget to call your mother tonight."

"Yes, ma'am," Marinette said a little mockingly. "Can we go now?"

Chloé shrugged. "I guess the makeup can wait until tomorrow."

The pair of them walked towards the car that was parked and waiting when the streets were suddenly in an uproar with screaming people running wild.

"Not now," Marinette groaned as the streets were nearly covered with small snakes that slithered out from the drains.

"I'll take the bags home, I'm sure you and your kitten can handle a few snakes." With that Chloé narrowly avoided a snake as she jumped into the car.

Marinette rolled eyes and rushed back into the mall and all the way into the bathrooms that were thankfully empty.

"Are you ready to let the world see Ladybug's new haircut?" Tikki asked.

Marinette just smiled. "Tikki, spots on!" 

* * *

"I am Le Serpent and I demand you hand over your miraculous!"

Ladybug eyed the scaled costume wearily. "Well, doesn't that look revolting," she commented, absently spinning her yo-yo.

"I couldn't agree more," Chat Noir said as he jumped up beside the spotted heroine.

Ladybug smiled at her partner. "Well, it's about time you slithered on scene. I was beginning to wonder when you'd get here."

"Did you just -- wow."

"Come on, kitty cat, we have an akuma to catch."

"Careful, you don't want to -- you know what? You opened with such a great pun, I don't think I can top it. I've slipped from my pedestal."

"You're going to slip off the roof if you don't watch where you're stepping," Ladybug pointed out with an amused smile as she glanced down at their feet, where Chat Noir had stepped in the mucus left behind by one of the snakes.

"Oh, gross!" 

* * *

"Ladybug! Ladybug, what do you have to say about the comments we're receiving on your new hairstyle?"

Ladybug smiled at the camera of Alya's phone. "If you have less hair, it's easier to maintain."

Alya noticed a certain black cat staring at her in awe.

"And what do _you_ think of Ladybug's new hair, Chat Noir?" she asked, focusing her camera on him.

"Paw-sitively stunning, as always." Just then, his ring beeped so he gave the reporter a bow and left.

"Ladybug, wait!"

Ladybug, who had thrown her yo-yo, paused to see Alya pocketing her phone and hurrying behind her. "Yes?"

"It's my friend, Marinette. She's missing, and her parents say she's okay. She's called to talk to them but she didn't say where she is. I'm kinda worried about her."

"I'm sure she's fine," Ladybug said, placing her hand on Alya's shoulder. "I know where she is, but she's asked that I keep quiet about it. She just needs some time to gather herself."

"Wait, how do you know where she is? And that she's missing?"

"You're the second person to ask me to look out for Marinette," Ladybug mused, but before she or Alya could say anything, her earrings began to beep more frantically. "Bug out," she said with a smile, giving Alya a two-finger salute before tugging on her yo-yo and flying off.

The transformation wore off just as she rolled through the open window.

"Call your parents," Chloé called out from behind a magazine, holding Marinette's phone up in the air. "There's just been an akuma attack, they're bound to be worried."

"Fine," Marinette grumbled, allowing Pollen to lead Tikki to the hidden sweets jar in Chloé's room. She switched her phone on and ignored all the missed calls and text notifications as she searched for her mother's number. 

* * *

"So, Alya asked Ladybug to look for me today," Marinette said as she sat down in the chaise.

"And what did Ladybug say?" Chloé asked with an amused expression.

"She said she'll look. You know, it's been just two days that I've been away from everything normal to me and I have to say, I am thriving."

"That's the rejuvenating face cream, Dumbass-Cheng."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Way to ruin the moment, Booger-geois

"Loser," Chloé said with a grin. 

"Booger-brain," Marinette countered.

Chloé dropped her magazine with a nearly-theatrical gasp. "You bone bag!"

Marinette laughed. "Moron."

"You're too dumb to be a moron, you're a mor- _off_."

Marinette snorted. "Looks like I hit a nerve there, Boil-face."

"You take that back, you retard!"

" _Your_ _face_ is a retard!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Chloé cried, almost like a language teacher in physical pain at the retort that truly did not make sense.

"Your face doesn't make sense!"

"Shut up!"

"I don't shut up, I grow up. And when I look at you, I throw up."

Chloé's jaw dropped. "How old _are_ you? Six?"

"Fifteen, but it's okay. I know you can't count very high."

"I hate you, Bugbrain."

"It's a mutual sentiment, Beekeeper."

"Beekee-- how _dare_ you!"

Marinette shrugged. "You started it."

Chloé noticed that she was standing on her bed. "Yeah? Well . . . your face!"

Marinette simply threw her head back and laughed like she had just discovered the meaning of true joy while Chloé sulked on her bed, cross-legged and arms folded.

But watching Marinette laugh her heart out, Chloé began to smile.

Step three: make laughing a normal thing for Marinette again.

Step three: accomplished. 

* * *

Chloé woke up to the sound of someone whimpering. She lifted her sleep mask and sighed when she realised it was Marinette. It was clear that Tikki was having no luck waking the bluenette, so with another sigh, Chloé crawled over the expanse between them and prodded Marinette's shoulder.

"Wake _up_ , Dupain-Cheng!"

Marinette only rolled onto her back, her eyes squeezed shut, clearly witnessing something awful. "No . . . please stop . . ."

Chloé sighed again and reached over the sleeping girl to grab the glass of water that was on her dresser.

"Chat, look out," Marinette muttered.

"Oh, boy," Chloé muttered, now certain Marinette was going to watch someone else die. She was just about to dip her fingers into the glass to flick water at Marinette in the hopes that it might wake her, when Marinette sat up sharply, looking around wildly.

"Adrien!"

"Hey!" Chloé shouted, grabbing Marinette's attention. "He's not here, it was a nightmare, okay?"

Forcefully, Chloé fed Marinette the water in small sips until Marinette had drunk the entire glass. Now much calmer, Marinette focused on the blonde in front of her.

Not unlike a mother or an older sister, Chloé pushed Marinette's short hair back and studied her face, her hand on Marinette's chin, noticing at once her downcast eyes. "It was a nightmare, Marinette. Adrien is _fine_. If you want, we can go check on him to make sure."

Marinette looked up, with a slight amount of hope in her bluebell eyes.

"Do you want that?"

Marinette nodded slowly. Chloé knew seeing Adrien would help. After the nightmare where Chloé proved she was okay, Marinette seemed to not think about it. Seeing that Adrien was okay would pacify Marinette and she might even get back to sleep when they got back.

"Come on, get out of bed. _Pollen_!" Chloé's shout for the kwami was whispered, but in the otherwise silent room, it sounded pretty loud.

"Yes, my queen?"

"Eat up, and give Tikki something to eat too. Marinette and I are going out for a while."

The yellow kwami nodded and pulled the red kwami to the stock of sugary goodness Chloé kept specifically for Pollen. Chloé, on the other hand, found herself tasked with coaxing Marinette onto her feet.

By the time the kwami returned, Marinette had told Chloé what the dream was without being prodded to speak about it. Chloé acknowledged that Marinette had now found it habit to tell Chloé what it was that she had just dreamt, and Chloé didn't even need to ask.

Step four: get Marinette to willingly talk about her dreams.

Step four: accomplished. 

* * *

"See? He's sleeping just fine."

Ladybug looked where Queen Bee pointed and nodded. "I see."

"Shall we go back to the hotel?"

Ladybug took a step towards the edge of the roof they were on, just managing to see into Adrien's dark bedroom. They could just barely make out his figure buried under his covers.

"Marinette?"

Ladybug paused, it was very unusual of Chloé to call her by her name while in costume.

"You can't go in there. He's asleep."

"I know . . . Can we get closer? I can't tell if he's breathing or not."

Queen Bee sighed and shook her head. But Marinette's dreams weren't just nightmares, she could see how they tormented her, and if she wasn't reassured that her nightmares were just that, it would consume her forevermore.

"Just until the windows. We don't want his father or anyone to catch us, okay? And don't try to get in, and be quiet. We might be wide awake, but my Adrikins is still asleep and I don't want us to disturb him."

Ladybug nodded and the of them swung over and landed on the windowsill with no more than a soft tap.

"See?" Queen Bee said softly. "He's definitely breathing."

Ladybug pressed her hands against the glass in an attempt to move closer, as if the glass might move by her pushing it. She rested her forehead on the glass and sighed, sounding relieved. "Okay, let's go home."

But they didn't leave just then, because Queen Bee gasped and dropped to the ground, pulling Ladybug down with her. The stood under the windowsill, pressed up against the wall.

 _He woke up_ , Queen Bee mouthed before holding her finger to her lips and glancing up as they heard the window open.

"Ladybug?" Adrien called out softly, still sounding like he was asleep. "I must've been dreaming," he mumbled, and they heard the window close.

Slowly, Ladybug moved out and threw her yo-yo upwards in order to pull herself back up to the window. She was so surprised to see Adrien waiting there that she fell backwards with a soft yelp.

"Ladybug! Are you okay?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Queen Bee muttered from under Ladybug. "I survived breaking Bug-brain's fall."

Ladybug stood up and held her arm out to Queen Bee. Then she tugged on the string of her yo-yo and the heroines were lifted back up to the windowsill.

"What are you doing here?" Adrien asked. "It's two in the morning."

"We didn't mean to wake you, Adrikins. Well, _I_ didn't," she added, throwing a glare at Ladybug.

"Seriously, what are you doing here?"

Queen Bee sighed as she slipped in. "Missy over there had a nightmare," she said, glancing back at Ladybug.

"Chloé, the last time you were in my room, rumours started flying. I'd appreciate if you --"

"You were in Adrien's room before?" Ladybug blurted.

"See, Adrikins? The rumours didn't fly very far."

Adrien rolled his eyes and then turned to Ladybug. The _love of his life_ was in his room -- Plagg would never believe him. "Your hair looks really nice."

Normally, Ladybug would've been as red as her suit at this point, but she was just too rattled by her nightmare. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Me? Yeah, uh, I'm okay. _You're_ the one who fell to the floor, by the way."

"And let's not forget me, the one who got squashed," Chloé called, now detransformed. "Yeah, sure, go ahead," they heard her tell the yellow kwami before Pollen zipped off to explore.

"Chloé, _why_ are you here?" Adrien asked tiredly.

Chloe had climbed the stairs already and was trailing her fingers over the books. "I can't trust Bug-brain to look after herself," she said, turning around and coming back down.

"Ladybug? Are you okay?"

She smiled and nodded, masking her unease. She was so tempted to put her fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse, but a stern look from Chloé kept her hands clasped behind her back.

"She had a violent nightmare, Adrikins," Chloé explained. "She thought you were dead. Well, she thought I was dead too, but when she saw my face she got over that pretty quickly. We came here just to show her that you're still alive."

"What happened?"

Ladybug shook her head, turning her head to the side. Chloé opened her mouth to keep explaining on behalf of the spotted heroine, but then she stopped and stared at the way Adrien looked at Ladybug. He never stared at _her_ like that when _she_ said she was having a bad day.

The incredible amount of concern, and what was that? Admiration? Amazement?. . . _Love_?

 _Could_ _it be_ , Chloé wondered, _that Adrien was in love_ _with_ _Ladybug_?

"Why were you at Chloé's?" Adrien eventually asked.

"We're very _good friends_ ," Ladybug said with a smile, prompting a frustrated growl-like sound from the blonde. "I just accidentally fell asleep. I'm sorry I woke you, Adrien."

"No, it's okay. I'd love to be woken by you anyday -- erm! I mean, it's no problem it was nice to er talk to you even if it's so late at night --"

While Adrien continued to blabber in embarrassment, Chloé found herself very amused, as Adrien's face slowly began to match Ladybug's suit.

"Hey," Ladybug said after a moment, putting her hand on his shoulder. "It's nice to have you as one of my fans," she said with a teasing smile.

"Eh?" Chloé said, thankful to have gone unheard.

Ladybug and Adrien had a small conversation about something or the other while Chloé looked on.

Yes, she decided, Adrien was most definitely in love with Ladybug.

Step six: get Adrien and Ladybug together. 

* * *

Chloé had decided to disregard her previous plans and work on getting Marinette -- or Ladybug, rather -- and Adrien together. She knew from the moment she saw Adrien fall over himself trying to talk to Ladybug that he was head over heels in love with her. Of course, Chloé almost knew that Marinette felt the same way about Adrien. She wasn't very subtle in her fumblings around the model.

Thus, Step 6.1: get Marinette to admit to her crush on Adrien.

Step 6.1 was proving to be exceptionally difficult.

"Okay, two truths and a lie," Chloé suggested as she set the cookie jar in front of Marinette and climbed back on the bed. "It's not like we're gonna get back to sleep anyway."

"Okay, fine," Marinette said, sitting up. "I tried to give my miraculous to Alya, I accidentally stole Adrien's phone, and I killed a butterfly once."

"You stole Adrien's phone?!"

"Hey, how do you know that's not the lie?"

Chloé shrugged. " You barely have the guts to kill a mosquito, breadhead."

"Okay, well, I didn't _steal_ it. I just happened to have it."

Chloé raised her eyebrows.

"I accidentally said something to Alya when I hit his voicemail and I had to delete it. Your turn. Don't ask me questions or I won't play anymore."

Chloé shrugged. "Okay, I kissed Chat Noir, I kissed Adrien, and I almost swallowed a bee that was in my cup."

Marinette grinned at the idea of Chloé swallowing a bee. "You've never kissed Adrien."

Chloé narrowed her eyes. "How do you know I've kissed your silly cat?"

"Zombisou? I was there, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you're Ladybug for a moment. Okay, go."

"Hmm. . .I stabbed myself with a pencil a few years ago, I love looking at memes, and I ran headfirst into a cake once."

Chloé hesitated. "Oh, this is hard . . . the memes."

"Chloé, who stabs themselves with a pencil?"

"It happens by mistake!" Chloé cried defensively.

Marinette paused. "You've stabbed yourself with a pencil, haven't you?"

"Well, apparently, you ran into a cake, so shut up."

Marinette grinned. "Your turn, booger-brain."

"Hmph. Okay, I bought from your parents' bakery when I was little, I'm in love with Adrien, and . . . I actually really like Nathaniel."

Marinette frowned. She peered at Chloé, who grinned at the struggle of determining which statement was a lie. "Okay, wow . . . ummm . . . Nathaniel is the lie."

Chloé shook her head. "Adrien."

"Wait, really?"

Chloé nodded. "Come to think of it, I've _never_ _been_ in love with Adrien."

"Please, you get so ticked off every time someone else has to do something with him. You got Mylene _and_ Clara Nightingale akumatized because you didn't end up getting to act with him. Also, I'm pretty sure I heard you with Sabrina, plotting to murder Kagami -- and me for helping him score a date with her. Let's not forget the time you claimed my hat as your own in order to get attention from him --"

"That's all it ever was. Attention. I've never been in love with anyone. I've just . . . just wanted to be noticed."

Marinette stopped bringing up points about Chloé wanting Adrien all to herself, but before she could comment on Chloé admitting that she did everything for attention, the blonde continued.

"Besides, I just didn't want _you_ all over him. I hated you."

"You . . . you hate- _ed_ me?"

Chloé paused as she thought about what she said. Then, slowly, she nodded. "Yeah. I _hated_ you. I don't anymore."

"Why? Is it because I'm Ladybug?"

"It's a contributing factor," Chloé said with a shrug. "But you came to me for help, me, the girl who made your life miserable. By the way, I don't take any of that back, I'm just acknowledging that I knew what I was doing."

"Of course."

"But still, despite how we treat each other, you still came to me and above all, you trusted me with your identity . . . I don't think anyone's ever trusted me with something so important before. Speaking of identities --" Chloé was eager to change the topic from her emotions "-- you think Adrien is that mangy cat, don't you?"

"Well, thanks for saying it out loud. I do now."

"Let's quiz him and see if we're right."

"Chloé! No, we can't do that! What if he is?"

Chloé frowned."Why not?"

"Wait a second. You like Nathaniel?"

"You tried to give your miraculous to the nerd?"

Marinette nodded and took a cookie. "Okay, I won't ask questions. . .You know he's gay, right?"

"First of all, he's not. He's --"

"Chloé. You were the one that caught him and Marc in the art classroom."

"Listen, he had a crush on you at one point, there's hope."

Marinette shook her head. "Booger, no. If you split Marc and Nathaniel I will take your miraculous back."

"I have an attention deficit, I'm not malicious. Besides, they work well together, on paper and without cl--"

"CHLOÉ! Watch your mouth!"

Chloé grinned. "So, what were we talking about? Yeah, why would it be bad if Adrien was Chat Noir?"

"It wouldn't be _bad_ ," Marinette said slowly, "I just don't want Adrien and Chat to be the same person."

"But why?"

"Well, Chat is the boy I work with. He's my friend, my partner. I can't always count on him to fall back on. And likewise, he can trust me to catch him."

"He's also madly in love with you."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "And Adrien," she continued, "Adrien is the boy I see every day. He's the boy I go to school with. He's . . . he's flawless."

"You're also madly in love with him. I just don't see the problem. If Adrien and Chat Noir are one and the same, then you love him and he loves you. Where's the problem?"

"Okay, first of all, Chat loves Ladybug. Second of all --"

"First of all, I call bullshit. Adrien is in love with whoever is under the mask -- which is you."

Marinette got ready to argue, then she paused. "Wait, who are we talking about?"

"Adrien."

"He's not in love with me, Chloé. Either of me."

"He _so_ is. You didn't see it because you're in love with him. You should go see him again. I'm sure he'd be ecstatic to have his lady visit him again."

"Chloé. No. Since you're so fond of changing the topic, I'll do it for you. Can we go out somewhere later today? Like to just look at other people and wonder what their lives are like."

"You _want_ to get out of the hotel?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. I still don't want to be seen by anyone I know, but I don't want to stay in here all day. Maybe we can go see a stupid movie. No one will be able to see me anyway."

Chloé grinned.

Step five: get Marinette to _want_ to leave the hotel on her own.

Step five: accomplished.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé continues playing matchmaker  
> Marinette starts adopting Chloé's quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all . . . I don't know if any of you know it, but Zazie's J'envoie Valser is like heaven to my ears and sounds a little like a lullaby (soothing, calming) which is why I suggest listening to it during the scene it's mentioned. Also, keep the song bookmarked, because it's going to make a reappearance in a few more chapters.

Chloé didn't expect to accomplish step 6.1 and 6.2 in less than an hour.

Step 6.2 involved getting Marinette to confess why she didn't want to confess to Adrien.

"Okay, fine!" Marinette yelled as the girls were driven to a secluded park Chloé had mentioned. "You want to hear it? Fine! I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, am in love with _the_ Adrien Agreste and I am afraid to tell him what you said I should tell him because he's _in love_ with Ladybug and he thinks of me as just a _good friend_! There, are you happy now?!"

Step 6.3 was in progress immediately: convince Marinette to visit Adrien as Ladybug.

"I wonder what Adrien would do if Ladybug paid him a visit," Chloé mused.

Marinette made sure Chloé's butler, Jean, wasn't paying them any attention as she lowered her voice and gave Chloé a glare. "I am _not_ visiting Adrien as Ladybug."

Chloé shrugged. "I'm just saying, it's a win-win situation. Besides, maybe if you visit him enough as Ladybug, you'll gain enough confidence to talk to him as Marinette when school opens again."

Marinette shook her head and folded her arms. She slid back into the seat properly and crossed one leg over her other, turning her face up and towards the window.

Chloé forgot what she was going to say as she saw herself perfectly embodied in Marinette's behaviour.

 _Oh boy, the nerd is_ not _going to be pleased._

* * *

Marinette and Chloé spent the day in the small little park, and by late afternoon, Chloé convinced Marinette to go visit Adrien as Ladybug. She called Jean and as soon as the butler returned them to the hotel, Chloe dragged Marinette up the stairs and demanded she transform.

"You know, I just had a thought," Marinette said as she tried to stall. "Haven't your parents asked about me?"

"About you? No. About the girl crying at night? Yes. Once. I said it was me. They never asked again."

"Wait, really? They think it's you and they haven't tried to talk to you?"

Chloé shrugged. "Should they? I mean, I'm almost sixteen, I can handle a few nightmares. Well, normal nightmares anyway."

"But that's beside the point," Marinette said softly. "They should be asking you if you're okay. I'm not even related to you and you're looking after me! They're your parents, if they think you're the one screaming and crying in the middle of the night, they should be _worried_ at the very least."

"Stop stalling, Bug-brain. Transform, or I'll drop you off in Adrien's bedroom looking like that. Pollen!"

Marinette glared at Chloé as she called for her kwami and a pink light washed over her. She was still glaring when it faded, leaving Ladybug behind.

"Pollen!" Chloé called again. " _Where_ is that kwami?" she mumbled to herself. "POLLEN!"

"Yes, my queen?"

Chloé stared at the yellow kwami that seemingly appeared out of thin air. "Where were you?"

"I was asleep. Tikki woke me."

Chloé nodded. "Oh, sorry for waking you, but a certain blue-haired girl is incapable of being alone. Buzz on!"

"I am not incapable of being alone," Ladybug said when the golden glow faded.

"You so are. Race you there?" 

* * *

Adrien was extremely surprised to see not one, but _two_ superheroines in his room when he walked in after dinner. It was just as well Plagg wasn't with him. He was sure he'd find the black kwami hidden in the cheese stash.

"Evening, Adrikins," Queen Bee said casually, sprawled over the couch.

Ladybug was standing by the piano, and when she noticed Adrien, she slipped slightly and hit about ten of the keys.

"You play?" she asked when the ringing stopped.

"So lame," Queen Bee whispered, playing with her spinning top, watching it spin on her fingertip.

"Why are you here, Chloé?" Adrien asked, folding his arms.

"First of all, it's Queen Bee. Maybe if we don't ever mention it again, people will forget I'm Chloé. Second of all, your lady needs moral support."

Ladybug's eyes nearly popped and she flushed bright red -- like Adrien.

Queen Bee smirked. "I'll give you lovebirds some room. Drop me a text when you're ready to leave, Bug-brain."

She stood up and got ready to throw her too out the window when her miraculous began beeping frantically. "What the--"

It was just as well the transformation wore off at that point, cutting her off, because Ladybug was completely certain she would've sworn. Chloé held out her hands as Pollen fell into the little bowl she formed.

Adrien almost asked if the kwami needed food, then remembered that he wasn't supposed to know about them. "What's that?"

"This is my kwami. Pollen allows me to transform, but she's clearly exhausted right now. Do you happen to have something I can give her?"

Pollen floated slightly above Chloé's hands. "Good day," she said to Adrien.

"So polite," Adrien marvelled, used to Plagg's demanding nature. "I think there's some . . . _cheese_ in that cupboard over there."

"What kind of cheese?" Chloé asked, skeptical at the way Adrien said the word.

"Stinky cheese," he said. "It's an . . . _acquired_ _taste_."

"Is it Camembert?" Pollen asked. "I do like it now and then."

"Help yourself," Adrien said, gesturing to the drawer where he hid Plagg's cheese. All too soon, he realised that Plagg was probably in there, but he couldn't do anything as Pollen phased through the wood. He bit his lip, hoping the kwami wouldn't say anything if Plagg _was_ in there.

"Chloé, what did we say about detransforming?"

"It's _Adrien_ ," Chloé said, gesturing to the model. "Besides, all of Paris won't forget the day Audrey Bourgeois said there's _nothing_ exceptional about her daughter. Since I can't buzz off without Pollen, I'll just go sit up there with the books. Pretend you can't see me."

And with that, Chloé took to the stairs.

"So," Adrien said as she shyly walked towards Ladybug. "What brings you here?"

"You," Ladybug blurted. "Ah! I mean, I wanted to visit -- um -- people and since I saw you last night I thought you were perfect. I mean! Uhm, I thought it was a good idea. Not that you're not perfect, because you are, I just . . . uhh . . . I wanted to see you, Adrien."

Adrien blushed again. Ladybug _wanted_ to see him? Ladybug wanted to see _him_? "I'm glad you came," he admitted. "I really like the way you, um . . . defeat akuma?"

Chloé sighed as she watched them.

The next step was going to be very difficult. Much more so than Step 6.1.

Step 6.4: get Adrien and Ladybug to confess _to each other._

* * *

Chloé kept so silent, Adrien and Ladybug _did_ eventually forget she was there.

"Do you know any songs?" Ladybug asked. The pair of them were sitting on the bench, Ladybug leaning her elbow on the side of the piano. "I mean, like, songs with lyrics?"

Adrien chuckled. "I know what you meant."

Ladybug smiled. "Sorry, it just came out. I like listening to you play. It's . . . it's soothing."

Adrien smiled back. "I do know the notes for one song, but I haven't played it in . . . in nearly a whole year."

"Oh. Well, if you don't want to, it's really okay. I was just wondering --"

"I won't sing it, I don't think I can."

"I'm sure you have a wonderful voice," Ladybug said with a smile.

"Blergh," Chloé muttered to herself. "So sappy." She was just lucky she wasn't heard by anyone. Ladybug had said that Adrien playing the piano was soothing, so maybe if Chloé could get a recording . . . maybe she could use it to keep Marinette in a peaceful slumber until morning. Deciding she had nothing to lose with the idea, Chloé got out her phone and at the last moment, decided on video.

Adrien took a deep breath and his fingers hovered over the keys. He glanced at Ladybug, and she gave him an encouraging smile.

The second he started, Chloé and Ladybug both recognised it. Ladybug remembered hearing it around the house when she was little, and even sometimes recently. Chloé remembered the times when she would sleep over at Adrien's because her mother was away again, and Adrien's mother would tuck them into sleeping bags -- they called it camping -- and then sing them a soft lullaby.

No wonder Adrien hadn't played it in nearly a year, it probably reminded him so much of his mother.

Without even realising, Ladybug had begun to hum along.

"You know it?" Adrien asked, stopping as he looked at Ladybug in surprise.

Ladybug nodded.

"So sing."

Ladybug shook her head.

"I'll sing with you," Adrien suggested.

Ladybug was surprised, but not as much as Chloé, who nearly dropped her phone.

"No, I can't . . . I don't sing."

"I bet you have a _wonderful_ voice," Adrien said, thanking the sudden burst of courage he received to tease Ladybug without the security of a black mask.

"Okay," Ladybug said after a few seconds of staring at each other, waiting for the other to blink. "But don't look at me, I'll get nervous."

Adrien laughed. "I'll try," he said, starting over.

_~~(give the song a listen)~~ _

Chloé could not comprehend the way their voices sounded together, perfectly harmonizing, like they were musical partners or something. Well, for the first ten seconds anyway. Adrien quickly forgot he said he would sing with Ladybug when he heard her voice and listened instead, playing the melody from memory.

Ladybug sat with her eyes closed, still supporting her head with her arm on the piano edge, probably forgetting that she had an audience. Adrien watched her, occasionally glancing back at the keys before returning his attention to the bluenette beside him.

All too soon, it was over. Adrien took his hands off the piano like the keys were on fire. He had looked at Ladybug, but he had seen his mother, although the two looked nothing alike.

Ladybug stared at Adrien as he stared at his clasped hands in his lap.

"Adrien?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just . . . I really miss my mom sometimes. She used to sing me to sleep with this song. You sounded just like her, you know."

Ladybug had no idea what to say, and Chloé could see that. Besides, it was nearly five in the morning. She grabbed a random book, opened to somewhere in the middle and then slammed it shut. "Time to go, Bug-brain," she said, descending the small staircase. "Pollen!"

Adrien suddenly smiled. "It was nice to play that song again," he said. "Thank you, Ladybug."

Ladybug smiled. In the background, Chloé transformed with a bright yellow flash in the otherwise dimly-lit room.

"Come on, Bug-brain, we have to get you back before the rest of your house wakes up."

Impulsively, Ladybug hugged Adrien before rushing to the window Queen Bee had already hopped out of.

"Ladybug, wait!" He rushed to the window where Ladybug stood. "Will you come again?"

Ladybug glanced at the striped heroine beside her before smiling and nodding. "If you'd like me to."

"I'd like that very much." 

* * *

Chloé wasn't surprised to find Tikki half in the cookie jar and Marinette fast asleep when she emerged from the bathroom. Getting to sleep wasn't a problem for Marinette anymore. Actually _staying_ asleep was a little harder.

Judging by the past few days, Marinette would sleep until six at best before a nightmare attacked. Chloé glanced at the watch, noticing that Marinette probably had about twenty minutes before a nightmare decided to manifest. She sat down on the bed and unlocked her phone.

It was a few moments when she realised something felt off.

Pollen hadn't said anything to her since they got back to the hotel.

"Pollen!"

The kwami approached without hesitation. "Yes, my queen?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Of course."

Chloé frowned. "I feel like you're upset."

Pollen smiled. "I'm not, I assure you, my queen."

Chloé's frown deepened. "You know you can tell me what's wrong, right? Besides, who am I going to tell? People don't usually believe that talking insects exist," she added, giving Pollen an affectionate tap on the head.

Pollen giggled slightly. "I'm perfectly all right."

"Was it Adrien's cheese? Did it taste funny at all?"

Pollen shook her head. "There was nothing wrong with the cheese, my queen."

"Then something else," Chloé pressed. "You were fine before we went to visit Adrien, well, mentally. Pollen, what happened in that drawer?"

Pollen shook her head. "Nothing."

Chloé ran a mental list of everything that Pollen could've seen in a drawer that apparently contained cheese. Stinky cheese, at that. She didn't think Adrien would put many things with something that probably smelt like dung, so what could it be? Something eating the cheese? A mouse? Rat? Maybe insects? Maybe the cheese was old and Adrien forgot about it and there were ants all over it and Pollen hadn't realised at first? But which animal likes Camembert? _Kwami_ _,_ _apparently_ , Chloé said to herself, glancing at Pollen.

Wait, that was it. A kwami. But why would Adrien have a kwami? Unless . . . unless she was right.

"Pollen, is Adrien Chat Noir? Did you see _his_ _kwami_ in that Camembert drawer?"

Across the room, Tikki fell into the cookie jar with a soft yelp.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes back to school 0_0

"He is, isn't he?"

Chloé took Pollen's silence as an answer.

"Tikki, am I right?"

Tikki shoved a whole cookie in her mouth. Impressive, considering that the cookie was about her size.

Chloé smiled. "Oh, isn't this great? Chat Noir loves Ladybug, who is Marinette, and Marinette loves Adrien, who is Chat Noir. It's perfect!"

Pollen and Tikki shared a worried glance.

Chloé leaned back on her pillows with a sigh and a distant smile. "Oh, I wish I could tell Marinette. It would make things _so_ much easier."

Simultaneously, Tikki and Pollen let out soft sighs of relief.

As Chloé glanced at the sleeping girl, Marinette shifted in her sleep and whimpered.

"Nino, stop."

"Wait, _Nino_? Why is she dreaming about _him_?"

Chloé sat up properly and searched for the video she had taken not even two hours ago.

"You're hurting her," Marinette mumbled.

Before Marinette could wake up, Chloé hit the play button and set her phone down on the nightstand beside Marinette's head. Like Chloé hoped, she settled nicely and curled up with a smile on her lips. "Adrien," she mumbled.

"Well," Chloé said, admiring the fact that her idea had worked. "I am a genius." 

* * *

By Sunday evening, Marinette had visited Adrien every night as Ladybug. She had also gone out for longer periods with Chloé, actually participating in choosing the items Chloé purchased for herself, putting her fashion knowledge to work as she commented on the outfits, commended some, and denied others. It wasn't even a surprise at this point to discover that they had a similar sense of style when it came to dressing up for events.

For day-to-day wear, they couldn't be more different.

"Are you ready for school tomorrow?" Chloé asked from where she was laying on the floor with her feet up on the couch.

Marinette, who was half hanging off the bed, rolled her eyes. "Can't I just stay in here all day? No one would even know."

Chloé rolled her eyes. "No, you can't. It's gotten so bad that yesterday, the nerd actually sent me a message to ask if I knew where you were."

Marinette dropped Chloé's magazine on her face. "What did you say?" she asked once she had moved the magazine.

"I kept in character and haven't read the message yet," Chloé responded. "Oh, look, there's one from Lahiffe too," Chloe added as her phone dinged in her hand.

"I'm not prepared to face everyone after literally vanishing overnight," Marinette admitted.

"Why don't you start with putting your phone on and keeping it on? Maybe respond to a few messages tonight."

Marinette shook her head. "You know I only put it on after dinner to talk to my parents, Chloé."

"If you can call what we have dinner," Chloé muttered.

"Hey, I make good pastries for someone who's sleep deprived and cooking in a dim kitchen at midnight."

"I never said they were bad," Chloé said with a laugh. "I'm just saying pastries at midnight before you go meet your boyfriend isn't really dinner."

"Hey, Booger-geois?"

"I guess that's payback for Dumbass-Cheng," Chloé muttered in amusement as she turned her head to look at the girl hanging off the bed. "What, do you want me to sing you to sleep with Adrien's lullaby?"

"No, I just -- thank you."

"For what?" Chloé asked, propping herself up with her elbows.

"For everything. I mean, I just dropped in unannounced, and it's not like we've had the best history, yet you still let me in when you found out that I'm me. And you've kept my secret, my identity and the fact that I've been here all week. And not just that, you've really looked after me. You made sure I ate slept and showered. You made sure I got out of the hotel, you bought things for me, you made sure I kept in contact with my parents, you even got me to talk to Adrien without stuttering! And all I've done is wake you up in the middle of the night--"

"Shut up, Bug-brain," Chloé interrupted lazily, dropping back onto the floor. "If it weren't for you dropping in unannounced, like you say, then I would've never understood what it meant to take care of someone who actually needed me. I don't think I've ever felt so responsible for someone in my life. Besides, getting you and Adrien together gave me something to do with my week. I love him, but looking at the way you love him just made me realise that it's a different kind of love. We grew up together, we've always been close. Besides, if you act sappy on our last day together, I might prematurely kick you out."

Just then, two kwami zipped through the room. "Marinette!" Tikki cried. "The stray cat is back again!"

"She tried to eat us!" Pollen added.

"This is why I hate cats," Chloé said with a sigh as she stood up and walked towards the window.

"How do you know it's a she?" Marinette asked Pollen as she sat up.

"Pollen just knows," Tikki said. "Don't ask."

Chloé gave a loud shriek just then. "It _licked_ me!"

Marinette laughed as she slid off the bed and walked over to Chloé, who was holding the cat as far away from her as possible.

"Hello, little minou," Marinette said, taking the cat from Chloé. "What are you doing up here? Trying to eat all my friends?"

"Stop babying it, Marinette. Lock it outside. Ugh, I have cat hair on my clothes."

"I think she likes you, Chloé."

"No," Chloé said, pausing in dusting her t-shirt off to give Marinette a stern look. "You can't keep the cat."

"Please? Look at her little face! She's so innocent!"

"If you want a cat, adopt your partner. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you holding him and scratching his chin like that."

"Maybe, but I would mind. Firstly, how am I supposed to hold a boy two heads taller than me like a kitten?"

Chloé wondered how many more therapy aides Marinette was going to take. "Fine, but keep the cat away from our kwami."

"Pretty little minou," Marinette said, "you're not gonna eat the kwami are you?"

"Okay, put the cat down and go visit your boyfriend. We all have school tomorrow, so we should all get some sleep. On second thought, take the cat with you."

Marinette laughed as she put the cat down. "Tikki, spots on!"

"MARINETTE!" Chloé shouted when Ladybug was getting ready to jump out the window.

"What? And could you please refrain from using my name while I'm suited up?"

"Whatever, take your cat with you. I don't want it licking me or eating my kwami."

With an exaggerated sigh, Marinette picked up the kitten. "Let's go somewhere where we're appreciated, minou," she said, almost sounding like she was talking to a little child.

"Let's go somewhere where we're appreciated," Chloé mocked under her breath. "Get out, bug-brain!"

Ladybug laughed and wrapped her yo-yo around the chimney of the building closest. "I'll see you later, Chloé _Booger_ -geois."

"Mari- _trash_ Dumbass-Cheng!" Chloé shouted to the empty window. She could just barely hear Ladybug's faint laughter.

"Why did you send the kitten with Marinette, my queen?"

"Because if we're all right and Adrien is Chat Noir, seeing Ladybug fawn over a black kitten is going to drive him _insane_."

There was a knock on her bedroom door. Pollen disappeared behind the pillows on the bed. Chloé quickly unlocked the door and opened it. She had been keeping it locked just in case someone walked in while Marinette was around. It wouldn't help much if someone saw her there, they'd tell everyone that Marinette was found.

"Yes, daddy?"

"Who are you talking to, dear?"

"Myself."

"Oh, well, um, your mother asked if you could try to keep it down. She's working."

Chloé scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If she wants peace and quiet, I'm sure she'll get it on the next plane to New York." And with that, Chloé closed the door and locked it again, despite Marinette being out.

Chloé wouldn't outright tell the girl, but she was worried about Marinette.

Tomorrow, Marinette would see everyone for the first time in two weeks, for the first time since she disappeared one week ago.

And how different Marinette was. Not only had she and Chloé traded some behavioural traits, but Marinette _physically_ was different. If possible, she had gotten thinner from her unhealthy appetite and sleep schedule. From some angles, you could see her tired eyes and the bags beneath them. A week wasn't enough to fix Marinette's appetite, and she sometimes still started shaking from a lack of nutrients.

Of course, there was the hair, too.

And the makeup Marinette wore to conceal the bags under her eyes and her exhaustion. You wouldn't say she wore too much, but it was definitely more than before.

Chloé wondered if Marinette would wear the same clothes she used to wear, or the new clothes Chloé had bought for her that first day.

But most of all, she wondered how her friends would treat her if and when they found out she had been staying with Chloé all week.

"Are you okay, my queen?"

Chloé smiled and nodded. "Perfectly fine. Get some sleep, I'll wait up for Marinette." 

* * *

Marinette had never been more nervous.

"Listen, it's not like you're heading into battle, Dumbass-Cheng."

"No, that I can do. Because Ladybug doesn't have these issues. Today, everyone will know where I've been this last week."

Chloe sighed as she helped Marinette fasten the denim straps of her dungaree while Marinette covered up her lack of sleep. "Seriously, I don't know why you're so nervous. It's not like you have kiss Adrien on sight or something."

"Been there, done that. Can't be nervous about something you've already --"

"YOU KISSED ADRIEN?!"

"No," Marinette said, pointing the mascara brush as Chloé. " _Adrien_ kissed _Ladybug_."

"AND I WASN'T THERE TO SEE IT?!"

"God, you sound like Alya," Marinette muttered as she closed the mascara tube.

Chloé finished up with the straps and looked at Marinette in the mirror. "Are you nervous about seeing the nerd?"

Marinette shrugged. "Look at me, Chloé. I'm not the same girl I was two weeks ago. I don't know what she's going to see when she looks at me. When they all look at me."

"Well, you still dress like you're five," Chloé commented, looking at the cartoonish flowers on the side of the shorts, and the floral sneakers. "So, not a big difference."

Marinette smiled. "Okay, but I have a bigger problem right now."

"What?" Chloé asked, worried. 

Marinette held up two lip gloss tubes. "Pretty in Pink, or Fuschia Fantasy?"

Chloé laughed in slight relief as she helped Marinette pick out the pink that matched her t-shirt. 

* * *

The car rolled to a stop but neither Marinette nor Chloé made a move to get out of it.

"Are you ready?"

Marinette tugged the beanie she was wearing for style a little lower. "No."

Chloé snatched the beanie and set it back on Marinette's head, a little in the back. "You'll do fine, Nettie."

"Nettie?" Marinette asked with a slight smile.

Chloé grew an embarrassed shade of pink. "It sounded better in my head," she said sheepishly.

"I like it. No one's given me a nickname like that before."

Chloé smiled. "Come on, breadhead. Let's show everyone the new and improved Nettie Dupain-Cheng."

"After you, Clotpole Booger-geois." 

* * *

Alya heard the car approach, but she recognised it as Chloé's so she turned back to Nino and they continued walking up the steps. If and when Marinette came to school, she was bound to be late.

"Do you think she'll come to school today?" Nino asked.

"I don't know. I was so worried, I sent even _Chloé_ a message to ask if she knew where Marinette was. Of course, the brat didn't even read the message."

"I know. I actually also sent her one yesterday. I don't think she's read that one either. What do you think happened with Marinette? I mean, why did she disappear in the first place?"

Alya shrugged. "Her parents said she told them she wanted to get out, and then she vanished the same night. But let me tell you, I've had a little break in the Marinette drama. Last night, I decided to try visiting Adrien -- late, because we know his dad won't let us in normally -- and maybe ask him if he had seen Marinette at all, but guess what I found instead?"

Nino shrugged, knowing his girlfriend would tell him without wasting a second more.

" _Ladybug_. And not just Ladybug visiting Adrien _in_ _the_ _middle of the night_. Look at this!"

Alya held out her phone and Nino stared in shock at the photo of his best friend and Ladybug. The spotted heroine was easy to spot, outside the window, hanging from her yo-yo as leverage. Adrien was leaning out towards her. But that wasn't the shocking bit. Alya had caught Adrien Agreste kissing Ladybug.

But she didn't look too happy about it.

"I'll have to tell Marinette. She's going to be crushed."

"By her crush," Nino said. "That's kinda sick."

Alya nodded. "Still, we're gonna tease Adrien until he tells us, right?"

"Do you doubt me?" Nino teased.

"Of course not, mon coeur," Alya said with a smile, pecking his cheek. "Why don't we wait outside until the bell rings? Just in case Marinette makes it early?"

Nino nodded and the pair walked towards the entrance. Chloé's car had left and she stood off to the side talking to some girl. Alya and Nino walked away.

"Hey, do you remember that girl that Adrien went to the ice rink with? Kagami something?"

Nino hummed a yes. He was looking in the other direction.

"You don't think she's coming to our school, do you?"

"Why? Is she awful?"

"Well, she's talking to _Chloé_." Alya pointed to the pair of girls. Nino stared at the girl with her short blue hair, laughing at something Chloé said.

"Huh. I don't know. It's almost time for class. If Marinette does show up, I'm sure she's going to be late."

Alya sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Okay, okay, let's see what you've got then, if you think you're so good at it!"

Alya rolled her eyes as she heard Chloé and her new friend. It didn't really look like Kagami as they passed, but who else would it be?

The girl shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "Did you _see_ what she was wearing?!"

Alya's expression twisted. There was no way a girl like Kagami would reduce herself to speaking exactly like Chloé.

"I mean, does she honestly think she's getting away with that _awful_ shade of pink?"

Alya stopped, as did Nino, curious to hear who the newcomer was talking about.

"I mean, seriously! The polka dots and flowers _do_ _not_ go together. Oh, they would if they were on me, though. Seriously, who does she think she's kidding with all the colours? Pink and white and gray and white and oh my God, that _has_ to be a poorly done dye job. I mean, who actually has _naturally_ blue hair?! And the pigtails! Voluntarily dressing like she's five years old!"

Alya had heard enough. Nino heard enough not to stop Alya from marching over to tell the girl a thing or two. _Nobody_ bad mouthed Marinette in front of Alya and got away with it. He simply followed, eager to see an angry Alya in action.

"How dare you!" Alya shouted, catching the girls' attention.

"Well, --"

"Don't you dare curse, Booger-geois."

Alya marched up to them. "Just who do you think you are talking about other people like that? Have you looked at yourself?! _You_ dress like you're five! And your hair! Marinette's pigtails are about a hundred times prettier than your pathetic dye job."

Chloé snorted, and Marinette just smiled a little. Here was Alya, defending Marinette . . . _to_ _Marinette_. Of course, Alya took their amusement to mean something else.

"You think you're funny? Of course, you're hanging around with Chloé Bourgeois! Just you wait, one day your attitude will come back and bite you in your--"

"Mind your language, Césaire!" Chloé said, looking horrified as she covered her own mouth.

"Oh, please," Marinette scoffed. "Like you haven't sworn a dozen times this past week." She rolled her eyes before looking back at the fuming brunette while Chloé walked off. "Listen, Alya, I appreciate the sentiment, but I was just doing my best impression of Chloé. But besides that, you're telling me you don't recognise your --"

"THE CAT FOLLOWED ME, BREADHEAD! GET IT OFF ME!"

"One second," Marinette told Alya, turning to jog towards the blonde who was fighting off a kitten about the size of her purse.

"Chloé, she's a kitten, she likes you. Is that really my problem?"

"JUST GET IT AWAY FROM ME, NETTIE! I DON'T NEED CAT HAIR IN _MY_ HAIR!"

Alya watched in growing confusion at the exchange between Chloé and the girl laughing at her predicament.

"Come here, minou," Marinette said with a smile, grabbing the kitten. "Leave the rotten booger alone, okay?"

"Breadhead," Chloé muttered, grateful that Marinette took the cat away from her.

"MARINETTE?!" Alya shouted.

"Took her long enough," Chloé muttered.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is that _you_?!"

Marinette smiled at Alya. "Like I was saying, I was doing my best impression of Chloé, so all those insults meant nothing because I was just . . . being Chloé."

"Where have you been?! What have you done? Your hair! Your clothes! _Lipstick_! Forget about that, are you okay? We were all so worried about you! I even sent a message to -- hey, wait a minute."

 _Please ask about the cat_ , Marinette prayed. _Get distracted by minou_.

Alya's gaze flicked between the expectant look on Chloé's face to the slightly guilty smile on Marinette's and pieces clicked. "You spent the week at Le Grand Paris, didn't you?"

Marinette nodded. She seemed sheepish at first, then it was like a switch flipped within her. She stopped slouching, standing tall and with a neutral expression on her face. Chloé put her hand over her heart as she watched Marinette perfectly let nothing faze her. "Yes, that's where I was."

The kitten scrambled out of Marinette's arms and scurried away.

"Why?" Alya shouted, casting a glare at Chloé. "Why would you stay with _her_ of all people?"

"I needed an escape and Chloé provided that for me."

"An escape! Girl, if you wanted to get out of your house, you could've bunked at _my_ place! Nora is even home to help--"

"I needed to be away from everything familiar to me. You don't understand, Alya, these past few months haven't been the easiest for me, and staying with Chloé for a week . . . I had the chance to be alone when I needed to be and to get better."

"Get better?" Alya repeated, narrowed her eyes. "What was _wrong_ with you?"

Chloé sighed. Marinette hadn't prepared for this. She was just about to walk over and spin some lie for the girl when Marinette noticed a certain blond model.

"Adrien!" she called, waving and smiling.

It took a few seconds for him to recognise her. "Marinette?" he asked.

Nino nudged Alya. "Oh, crap. Marinette, I was supposed to tell you. Last night--"

"Hi!" Marinette chirped when Adrien approached.

"Wow, you look amazing, Marinette. The hairstyle was a good choice."

"I know," Marinette said, pushing her hair back.

"DON'T TUCK!" Chloé shouted. "I SPENT THIRTY MINUTES FLAT IRONING THAT!"

Nino, Alya and Adrien stared at Chloé in a mix of shock and fear while Marinette just sighed and flicked her hair out from behind her ear.

Chloé had ironed Marinette's hair for her.

"Well, I spent _one hour_ and thirty minutes flat ironing _that_ and you just put a major kink in it."

The three of them watched in amazement as Chloé grabbed her rubber band and pulled her hair out of her ponytail.

"Woah. . ." they chorused, amazed at the fact that Marinette had gotten Chloé to do something she wouldn't normally do. 

"You tuck _once_ and I tie again," Chloé threatened. Then she walked up the steps of the school. "Sabrina!"

Marinette smiled and shook her head. She turned back to her friends and noticed a dreamy smile on Adrien's face. She knew what it was about, but she sure wasn't going to talk about the fact that she was Ladybug. "Well, don't you look happy," she mused. "Something _fun_ happen last night?"

Chloé, who just managed to catch the question, snorted before she was ambushed by Sabrina.

Alya was worried. She knew what happened last night, but she had no idea that it had been Marinette that Adrien had kissed.

Adrien blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "No, nothing happened, nothing at all."

"Are you sure?" Marinette asked, loving the way she could tease Adrien. She leaned towards him, even lifting on tip-toes to reach his height.

"I'm sure," Adrien squeaked.

"Okay," Marinette said, stepping back. "I'm glad _someone_ likes my hair," she told him, throwing a pointed look in Alya's direction.

"Uhm, I like it too," Nino said. "It suits you."

"Thank you, Nino," Marinette said.

"I never said I didn't like it, I'm just so confused. Why did you go stay with Chloé when there's all of us that could've helped."

"Wait, you stayed with Chloé?" Adrien asked. "You were with her all week?"

Marinette nodded. "She was really nice to me."

"So that means you were there the night Ladybug fell asleep there and -- wait where were you when they left?"

Marinette seized the teasing opportunity without a second wasted. "How do _you_ know Ladybug fell asleep there?"

"Uhh . . ."

"Yeah," Alya said, "how _do_ you know?"

"Uhh . . ."

"I'm just messing with you, Adrikins," Marinette said with a laugh, playfully elbowing him. "I know _exactly_ how you know."

"Uh . . . wha -- wha how --"

"You said it yourself, Ladybug visited Chloé. I'm sure even Ladybug has to talk to a girl about her boy troubles sometimes."

"Boy troubles?"

Marinette smiled. " _All_ girls discuss their first kiss, Adrikins," she stage-whispered before leaving her shocked friends behind. "Come on, you don't want to be late, do you?"

"Wait!" Alya shouted, running after her. "You knew about that? How?"

"Well, you know, Ladybug and Chloé are _very good friends_."

 

In the classroom, Chloé suddenly paused and felt very annoyed. "Dupain-Cheng is referencing that documentary again. I can feel it."

 

"I still don't understand. What happened? I mean, why run away in the middle of the night?"

"Wait, where's Nino and Adrien?"

"Well, Adrien almost fainted, so now Nino is helping him stay on his feet. So, you know Ladybug kissed Adrien?"

Marinette smiled. "Well, according to the source, _Adrien_ kissed _Ladybug_."

"And you're not upset?"

Marinette shook her head. "Nope. I talked to Ladybug. She really loves him --"

"So do you!"

"I guess, but he loves her too. Once you see it, you wonder how you didn't before. Besides, all I want is for Adrien to be happy and with Ladybug, he is. But, they only kissed once and they've only been speaking about a week. I still have time to squeeze in and take the attention myself."

"Another thing, since when do you call him _Adrikins_?"

"Oh my god, I've been spending too much time with Chloé," Marinette said, her hands on her head, looking horrified. "I didn't even notice!"

"Hey, Dumbass-Cheng," Chloé called as Marinette and Alya entered the classroom.

As always, Alya was ready to spring to Marinette's defence, but she didn't need to.

"Yes, Booger-geois?"

"Don't forget to call your parents before you go back home. You don't want to give them a heart attack."

Marinette rolled her eyes as she slid into her seat. "You just want me to give you more pastries for remembering to remind me."

"Obviously."

Alya was _very_ uncomfortable.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé is -- sort of -- adopted

The first half of her classes were okay. Ms Bustier acknowledged that Marinette was all right and found before continuing with the lesson. Marinette spent a few minutes teasing Adrien and enjoyed seeing exactly how red he could turn before he told her to be quiet.

But the closer they got to the end of the day, the more agitated Marinette became. She began to daydream in the last class of the day -- French with Ms Bustier -- and by and by, her thoughts turned to how she would sleep. Suddenly, she realised that she didn't know what she was going to do.

At home, there was no Chloé to wake her up before the nightmare fully formed.

At home, there was no Pollen to join Tikki snuggling up to her to keep her warm.

At home, there was no one who would stay up with her, talking about things until she felt safe enough to go to sleep.

At home, there was no Queen Bee to tell her to suit up so they could go and see if the latest nightmare victim was still alive.

At home, she was alone.

"Ms Bustier!" Chloé shouted, sticking her hand in the air. "Ms Bustier, Marinette isn't feeling well!"

Alya turned to her friend, surprised. Marinette looked okay. Then she looked closer. Marinette seemed to be taking short, quick breaths, almost like she was silently hyperventilating. "I'll take her to --"

Chloé cut Alya off without even having to think about whether or not she wanted everyone to know that she had been taking care of Marinette. "I got this," she said, standing up and walking over to Marinette's desk.

"Hey," she said softly, taking Marinette's hands. "Come on, breadhead, get up."

Marinette didn't move. Ms Bustier took a step forward. "Chloé, I think Marinette is fine, please return to your seat."

Chloé leaned towards Marinette and whispered, "Meet me in the bathroom."

"I'm going to tell my daddy that you're being rude to me!" Chloé snapped, stomping her foot down. "I'm going to call him right now!"

She pulled her phone out and put it to her ear. "Daddy?" she said as she walked out. "I have a complaint!"

Marinette was shaken from her nightmare reverie by the return of Chloé's bratty behaviour. She took a deep breath and sat up properly.

Ms Bustier sighed as she walked up to Marinette. "Are you all right? Would you like to visit the nurse?"

Marinette nodded, deciding she would just go to the bathroom instead. Ms Bustier nodded as well, then looked around the classroom. "Let's see . . . Adrien, you look like you need a walk. I trust you'll be paying attention when you return from walking Marinette to the nurse?"

Adrien blushed slightly, but went a little redder when he noticed Marinette's teasing grin. She knew what he was thinking about.

"Uhh, sure. Yeah."

Alya pouted while Marinette stood up and took the arm Adrien offered her. She _did_ look a little shaky. Ms Bustier promptly called attention to the lesson as the pair shuffled out of the classroom. Alya watched them leave with a frown. Something was going on that she wasn't aware of. Why else did Marinette suddenly have to confidence to not only speak to Adrien in full and coherent sentences, but to also actively _tease_ him? 

* * *

"So, uhh, what did Ladybug say?"

Marinette smiled up at Adrien as the door of the classroom closed behind them. "You know I can't tell you. It's girl code after all!"

"Oh, okay."

Marinette's smile widened as she thought about what had transpired last night. "She said you're a great kisser, and she is likely to be seeing you again."

"Really?"

"What, did you think she was going to kiss you and then disappear off forever? She's Ladybug!"

Adrien smiled. "You're a great friend, Marinette. Really, I mean it."

Marinette only gave Adrien a smile before turning her head down. Once she did, she stopped smiling and her fear returned.

"I'll take it from here, Agreste," Chloé said as they passed by the bathrooms. "Took you long enough, anyway."

"What? I thought you were busy wailing to your father?"

"Please, like there's anything he can do about breadhead's case over here. Come on, Dmbass-Cheng," she added to Marinette, pushing the bathroom door open and holding out for Marinette with her other hand.

"Sorry, Chloé," Adrien said, "but Ms Busteir said to take Marinette --"

"Adrien," Chloé said sternly, "give me my Marinette."

Marinette glanced at Adrien. "You should get back to class. And try not to dream about your girlfriend while Ms Bustier is talking."

Adrien laughed softly. "I _wish_ she was my girlfriend."

"Eh?" Marinette looked shocked. Chloé grinned and shook her head before grabbing Marinette's arm. "Come on, trash panda. Let's fix you up."

Chloé closed the bathroom door after them, leaving Adrien outside. He knew he probably shouldn't, but he was curious as to what kind of a relationship Marinette and Chloé had that made Chloé a little more bearable to Marinette. So he stayed to listen in.

"Okay, Dupain-Cheng, out with it."

Marinette bit her lip. "I don't wanna go home," she blurted. "I don't think I can. I need you, Chloé, I don't know how I'll manage without you. I can't tell my parents about them and I can't tell Alya or anyone. I'll be alone and I'll have to suffer through the nightmares again and I'll go back to the way I was and I'll stop sleeping and eating and going out and I'll wear my sweats every day because I can't find the energy to get out of bed and I'll miss school and I won't be able to be--"

"Hey, I didn't work so hard to fix you for you to break yourself again. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are the person who fixed me by allowing me to fix you. You are the reason I'm a good superhero. You make me a better person because you needed me to be that for you. You know I wouldn't make you go if you didn't have to. Your parents miss you, I could hear it when you were on the phone with them every night. You need to spend some time with them."

"I can't, Chloé," Marinette said with urgency in her voice. "Don't you understand? I can't do it. I can't watch all of you die over and over again. I can't wake up screaming for you and Adrien and Alya and Nino and my parents and -- I just can't, Chloé. I don't know how you got rid of yours, but I can't get rid of mine. Before I came to you, I dreamt about being akumatized so many times, I'm surprised it hasn't already happened. Please don't make me go home, Chloé, please."

Chloé bit her lip as Marinette clung to her, arms locked around the blonde, sniffling pathetically as she buried her face in Chloé's shoulder.

"Okay, Nettie, you'll be okay," she said, running her hand over Marinette's head.

"I don't know what to do, Chloé," Marinette said, way too close to crying.

Outside, Adrien wondered what kind of nightmares Marinette had been having to affect her this badly.

"You don't have to do anything, Marinette," Chloé said firmly. "I'm your sister now, okay? I'm your mom, and your partner, and your best friend and everyone else you can't talk to about your nightmares, okay? So you come and you talk to me about everything. Nothing has to change."

"But you said --" Marinette hiccupped "-- you said I needed to go to my house."

"True, but I never said I had to stay at the hotel."

Marinette pulled back to look at Chloé. "Really?"

"We bonded over nightmares and a very pretty boy, sweetie, I don't think we can get any closer than this. Also, if I don't hover behind you, you'll forget all the makeup lessons I have you and let me tell you, I did not work so hard to get you on my level for you to sleep it all off through one measly nightmare. Besides, I'm not leaving my phone with you and I'm not giving you the video."

"You took a video?!"

"Hey, it helps you sleep."

"Chloé!"

Just then, something exploded outside. "And that puts a halt in this conversation for now. A certain Chat Noir needs a partner to help until Ladybug shows up, and I think Rena Rouge and Carapace are a bit preoccupied with worrying about a common friend they have to transform right now. I'll see you later, breadhead. Pollen, buzz on!"

"Chloé, wait! You know who they are?"

Queen Bee paused with her hand on the doorknob. "I have a vague idea. See you soon, Bug-brain," she said as she opened the door and left. 

* * *

Once Ladybug showed up, Queen Bee took her leave, saying it was best she left it to the professionals. It took a while, but Ladybug and Chat Noir soon located, destroyed, captured and cleansed the akuma.

"So, m'lady, I heard you have a new black cat in your life."

Marinette laughed. "You're still my favourite black cat, Chatton, don't worry. I'd stay and chat, but I have to go check on someone."

"Ah, yes, the boyfriend," Chat Noir said with a teasing smile, leaning on his baton. "I've heard you've been visiting a certain Adrien Agreste."

"He's not my boyfriend," Ladybug said. "Yet," she muttered to herself.

"What was that last bit?" Chat Noir asked with a smirk.

"You heard me," Ladybug called as she took off with her yo-yo, heading back to the school.

Her transformation wore off as she slipped through the bathroom window. She opened her purse for Tikki to grab a cookie.

"You should really make sure places are empty before you detransform."

Marinette jumped slightly and sighed of relief when she realised it was Chloé. "Don't scare me like that, Booger-geois."

"Come on, let's go get our bags and get you home. Do you think your mother will let me stay?"

"At this point, I think she'll do anything to keep me in her house." 

* * *

Sabine and Tom were more than surprised when Chloé Bourgeois followed their daughter through the bakery doors.

"Maman, papa, I have a request. I would really like it if you let Chloé stay here. She's been looking after me this past week, and she's done an amazing job making sure I've been okay. She's even gone as far as making sure I eat and sleep regularly. Please, she really helps me."

Marinette's parents shared a glance. "Of course," Sabine said. Anything to keep her daughter safe at home. "How long will you be staying, dear?"

"Indefinitely," Chloé answered. "Or until Marinette can look after herself. Whichever comes first."

Sabine hesitated, but with an encouraging nod from her husband, she smiled at Chloé. "Well, in that case, I'm sure you'd like to go and get some of your things from home?"

"Yes, please." Chloé turned to Marinette. "You'll be okay for a few hours, trash panda?"

"I'll last until dinner, booger brain."

"Do you want me to bring all the things we bought?"

"Yes, please." Marinette's purse swung slightly. "And the cookie jar, please?"

Chloé smiled at Marinette, greeted her parents properly, and then left.

"So, you've been staying at Le Grand Paris?" Tom asked.

Marinette nodded. "Chloé's been very nice this past week. She even made me go outside nearly every day to get things for me and sometimes things for herself. She got me my haircut too."

"I noticed," Sabine said with a nod. "What made you decided to cut it all?"

"I needed a change," Marinette said, running her fingers through her short hair.

"Well, as long as you feel better. Come on, you can help me in the kitchen." 

* * *

"The casserole is lovely, Mrs Cheng."

"Excuse me, Booger-geois, I made it."

"Oh, well, in that case, I think I've been poisoned."

Marinette gasped melodramatically and Chloé laughed.

"Thank you, Chloé. So, what have the two of you been doing all week?"

"Well, on Monday, we went to get a haircut. I was thinking a trim or maybe layers or something but no. I leave to get Marinette a bottle of face wash and when I get back, twenty inches --"

"Eight," Marinette cut in.

"-- of hair is missing from her head. But I guess it's okay," Chloé said, glancing at the girl next to her, "she's happy with it. The next day, I took her shopping for some new clothes. I figured she didn't want to return to get her old things, and she couldn't keep borrowing mine. Over the rest of the week, we just went out a couple of times to give Marinette some fresh air and things like that. We went out to eat once, but after that, we ate at the hotel every day."

"Well, that sounds lovely. It was very kind of you to buy all those things for our Marinette. What can we --"

"Oh, no, Mr Dupain. No, all that is a gift from me to her. Besides, Marinette spent a good portion of the week baking treats for us."

"Really?" Sabine asked with a smile. She was just glad to have her daughter back. "Well, it sounds like you two had a wonderful week. Uh, Marinette, would you help your father clean up the bakery, please? We forgot all about it in preparing dinner."

"Of course, Maman," Marinette said, eager to disappear.

Once Marinette was gone, Sabine leaned towards Chloé. "Tell me the truth, dear. What did you do for Marinette?"

Chloé glanced at the entrance to the bakery and bit her lip. "Well, it wasn't much, really."

"No, please. Tell me. I would like to know what it is you've done for my daughter that I can't, why she needs you to stay with her."

"Uhh . . . well, for one, I made sure she slept at least four hours every night. Any more and she would wake screaming. I also made sure I fed her breakfast. Some mornings I had to spoonfeed her or she wouldn't eat otherwise. I never asked her to talk about them, the nightmares. No, wait, I did. The first night, I forced her to talk about it, and after a lot of persuasion, she did. After that, I didn't have to ask. It seemed talking about them lifted it from her mind for a while. Every night, I made sure she was under the covers and that I had a glass of water on her bedside table."

"And?" Sabine prompted when Chloé paused and didn't continue.

"I had to feed her the water little by little every time she woke up after a nightmare to calm her down. Sometimes she couldn't get back to sleep, so we stayed till morning playing silly games like truth or dare and things like that. It kept her preoccupied until daylight. If her nightmares aren't on her mind, she's alright during the day."

"I see. I want to thank you for everything you've done for Marinette. It can't have been easy."

"Oh, at first, it really wasn't. I'm not used to getting by on three hours of sleep, but I'm all right now."

"No, I mean putting your differences aside to help Marinette. I know the two of you have never been good friends, so it must've been a lot to put the past aside to help her."

Chloé shrugged. "No one's ever needed me the way she does before. It feels nice to be so important to someone. It's really me who has to thank Marinette for coming to me. She's made me a better person because I had to look after her and make sure she was okay all the time. It was like I had a baby sister I needed to look after. This last week with Marinette has been my biggest responsibility, and one of the only things in my life I've taken seriously."

"Still, thank you. As a mother, you can't imagine what it's like to watch your child suffer the way she did. I can't thank you enough for helping her smile again."

Chloé smiled. "It was my pleasure, Mrs Cheng. Now, I heard Marinette saying something about baking something together?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé is wicked, and she knows it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember i mentioned that J'envoie Valser will reappear? well, this is it  
> also, guess who gets a little peek into the head of Hawkmoth? that's right, YOU DO!

Tonight was no better than the rest. If anything, it was slightly worse.

Sabine woke up to the sounds of her daughter crying out. Between her cries, Sabine was sure she heard Chloé swear.

She was on the steps to Marinette's room, her hand on the trapdoor, when she heard Chloé speak again.

"Marinette! This isn't the hotel, you can't scream in the middle of the night here, you'll wake your parents!"

Of course, Chloé didn't know that they spent most of the night awake in worry.

"I know, Nettie, I know they're horrible," Chloé soothed, "but they're just nightmares. Do you want to go and see if he's still okay? I can --"

Quietly, Sabine lifted the trapdoor to see Chloé sitting on the bed, with Marinette's head rested on her chest the way Marinette used to curl up to Sabine when she was younger. She couldn't help but feel slight jealousy towards the teenage girl her daughter sought comfort in instead of her, her own mother. She dismissed it quickly enough. If Marinette needed Chloé, then Chloé stayed.

Marinette mumbled a response that Sabine didn't catch.

"Oh, honey, no. I'm sure Pollen won't mind, I'll take you out for some fresh air. Maybe it'll help you get back to sleep? What about the bridge, Pont Marie? Or the top of the Eiffel Tower?"

There was another mumbled response which Chloé took a few seconds to think about. "Yeah, okay. Okay, we can go there. Come on, let's just get up to the balcony, we don't want to wake your parents."

And just like that, the pair of girls were gone.

They were still gone when Sabine went down to the kitchen in the morning, but there was a hastily scrawled note from Chloé informing them that she and Marinette had left early for school, and a few leftovers from dinner were missing.

Marinette was smiling brightly when the two of them walked into class together. Chloé nudged her lightly.

"Will you _please_ tell me what happened? I was a good friend and I left you alone. Now you be a good friend and tell me! Or I'm going to assume the worst."

"Oh please. What could the worst be?"

"Well, Adrien is sixteen, you're nearly there . . . there's a lot of raging hormones, and you're clearly head over heels in love --"

"CHLOÉ!" Marinette looked scandalized.

Chloé smirked. "I see, am I right?"

"No! Not in the slightest! I'm not telling you. Go and ask him yourself!"

Chloé glanced behind Marinette. "Okay."

Marinette turned to see Adrien taking his seat next to Nino. With another smirk at Marinette, Chloé flipped her loose hair over her shoulder and walked over to the desk.

"Adrikins!" she shouted, basically slamming her hands down as she leaned towards him.

Marinette was torn. Did she go over and drag Chloé away and risk stirring suspicion with Adrien, or did she -- hmm . . . or did she go over and hear what Adrien had to say about Ladybug?

"I wanna know what happened last night."

"Nothing!" Adrien said, way too quickly.

Chloé narrowed her eyes and leaned closer. Nino, who wasn't even subject to her glare, shrunk away. Marinette stood at Chloé's seat with her thumbnail between her teeth. Poor Adrien.

"Don't lie to me, Agreste."

"I swear, I didn't do anything!"

Chloé -- if possible -- narrowed her eyes further. "Fine, keep your secrets, I'll wheedle it out of Ladybug."

Adrien froze, and Marinette could see him going through his own internal dilemma. Did he demand Chloé stop and risk having to tell Nino that Ladybug had been visiting him, or did he risk Chloé actually asking Ladybug about it?

Chloé was wicked and she knew it.

"Well, Adrikins?"

"I -- err . . ."

"Okay, fine. I'll be in the library until class starts and during break," she said, walking towards the door. "Coming, breadhead?"

Marinette avoided Adrien's gaze and rushed out after Chloé. "You're a witch, Booger-geois."

"Tell me about it," Chloé said with a grin. 

* * *

"Marinette, wait up!"

Marinette paused and turned around to see Alya jogging to catch up.

"Listen, I just wanted to ask if you were okay? I didn't see you before school, and you were really quiet in class. And last night -- I know it was really late, but I figured I could still try -- anyway last night I called and your mother answered and she said you weren't at home so I was worried and --"

"Slow down, Alya," Marinette said with a laugh, holding out her hands.

"I'm going to _talk_ to Agreste," Chloé said to Marinette, nodding towards the boy walking through the doors a few feet away. "See you whenever."

"Yeah, sure," Marinette replied as Chloé walked off, whistling a random tune. "And be nice!" she shouted as an afterthought.

"No promises," Chloé called back as she entered the library.

Marinette shook her head as she turned back to Alya. "I was fine, I was just outside. I needed some air."

"In the middle of the night?" Alya asked, raising her eyebrows.

Marinette shrugged. "Everyone has their own sleep aids."

"And yours is what, exactly? Going outside?"

"Well, technically, that's not my sleep aid."

"Then what is?"

"You're not gonna like it."

"Obviously."

"Chloé."

Alya laughed. "Very funny. Come on, you can tell me."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "Not quite the reaction I was expecting."

"What do you mean?" Alya asked, her amused smile slowly fading. "You're not -- you're not _serious_? Are you?"

Marinette shrugged, holding on to the strap of her bag. "Like I said, everyone has their own sleep aids. Mine just happens to be a person."

Alya couldn't seem to be able to comprehend the situation. "I don't get it. So was she there last night? Visiting you? From the roof? This makes no sense, Marinette."

"Well, actually," Marinette began, unsure if she should say it matter-of-fact or break it gently. "Chloé is sleeping on my chaise. She's the one who made me go outside, because I was hyperventilating. After that, she made me go back to sleep and then we came to school early, but we were in the library, so that's why you didn't see me before class."

"Chloé took you to the library?" Alya asked, sounding skeptical.

"Not to study, no. She wanted to make sure I ate the food we took on our way out."

"Marinette, why -- why did you go to Chloé?"

"I told you before, Chloé--"

"OH MY GOD, ADRIEN AGRESTE!"

"SHUT UP!"

Alya folded her arms. "Another thing, since when are you okay with Chloé tailing Adrien? Nino said she was all over him this morning, demanding answers and you were just watching? Since when do you let her --

"ADRIEN, YOU EAGER LITTLE ANIMAL!" Chloé screeched, sounding like she was on the verge of laughing. Marinette was sure the whole school could hear.

"CHLOÉ, SHUT UP! IT'S NOTHING!"

"IT'S A--"

Marinette sighed, there was a high chance Adrien was trying to stop Chloé from blurting out that he had a -- Marinette stopped abruptly, standing up straighter and blinking as she remembered something. "I have to go," she told Alya.

"What? No, we're having a conversation."

"I know, but if I don't get into the library, Adrien might murder my sleep aid. We'll talk again, I promise," Marinette said, already on her way into the library.

"I just fell," Adrien was saying as Marinette came up behind him. Chloé noticed her, but said nothing. "And I, uhh, I tripped down the stairs. You know how the stairs are."

Chloé folded her arms. "When I fell down the stairs, they didn't wrap their arms around me and leave a love bite on my neck."

"Hi," Marinette said as she walked around the bookshelf. "Um, Adrien, you have a little . . ." She trailed off, pointing in the general direction of the side of her neck.

Adrien covered the mark up with his hand so quickly, he accidentally slapped himself. "I fell and the ground hit me!"

Marinette looked down. "Hello, Ladybug," she said, waving at the floor.

Chloé snorted, well aware of how much fun Marinette was having.

"What are you doing?" Adrien asked.

"Well, you said it was the floor that left a mark on you, so I just assumed Ladybug was in hiding as a floor."

Adrien froze. "CHLOÉ, WHO ELSE DID YOU TELL?!"

Marinette smiled. "Oh, no, Chloé didn't tell me. I heard it straight from Ladybug. You forgot, she and Chloé are _great_ friends--"

"Marinette," Chloé grumbled.

"And Chloé is staying with me. It's only natural that I speak to Ladybug."

Adrien leaned towards the two girls. "What did she say?" he asked curiously.

"Nuh-uh," Marinette said, "we're here to find out what you have to say. Find yourself a guy who can speak to Ladybug on your behalf. So, what do you have to say?"

Adrien smiled. "She's the best."

"Oh my god," Chloé said, trying very hard not to laugh in the middle of her shenanigans, "I left the two of you alone for one hour and you had --"

"CHLOÉ!" Adrien yelled. "That's not true!"

"Are you sure?" Chloé teased.

"First of all, Ladybug's not like that. And second of all, I just meant that being around her is the best," Adrien smiled at the bookshelf, completely unaware that he was talking about Ladybug _to_ Ladybug, "She's just so caring and sweet and honest. And she's so perfect to me, like we can just sit together -- like we did yesterday -- and just talk and when she gets excited and her whole face lights up . . . she's beautiful. And she has the most beautiful smile, it can make anyone's day. I just love her so -- Marinette, are you okay?"

Chloé snorted again at the expression on Marinette's face.

"Don't _cry_!" Adrien said, baffled. "Oh my god, don't cry, I love _you_ too! You're my best friend, oh my god, please stop crying, Chloé help!"

Chloé was having trouble breathing now as she nearly curled up on the floor, tears streaming down her face as she let out silent laughter, clutching her stomach.

Adrien had _no idea_ what to do -- with the girl that was laughing so hard she was crying, and with the girl that was staring at him with an odd expression and tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Marinette, I uhm -- look, you're a really great friend and I like you a lot too, please don't be upset."

"Don't worry," Marinette said softly with a small smile. "I've never been happier."

From the floor, Chloé inhaled deeply in an attempt to get oxygen into her lungs and a sharp wheezing sound filled the library. 

* * *

For the next akuma attack, Ladybug and Chat Noir were joined by Carapace. Ladybug knew why Queen Bee sat this one out -- she was catching up on sleep lost due to Marinette -- but she only realised why Rena Rouge was missing when she noticed Alya filming from a distance -- her Ladyblog was lacking content. It was perfect, though. Without Carapace repeatedly throwing his shield over their heads, Ladybug and Chat Noir would've surely been flattened by flying debris mere seconds into battle.

"Well, m'lady," Chat Noir said after Ladybug had restored Paris. "It'll be just you and I tonight. Hasn't been like that in a long time."

"That's true," Ladybug agreed.

Often, she would take a patrol with either Rena Rouge or Queen Bee, and Chat Noir would take a patrol with Carapace. Once, Ladybug had asked Rena Rouge and Carapace to do one together.

"I'll see you tonight, m'lady. Where will we meet?"

"Hmm, the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Marinette will leave out some treats for a certain kitty cat."

"Already looking forward to it." 

* * *

Ladybug held out the plate of cookies she had baked with Chloé earlier. "Be quiet, Marinette is sleeping."

Chat Noir held a finger to his lips. "So, it's been a while since you and I had a proper conversation."

"Yeah," Ladybug agreed, setting the place down.

"So, you're dating that model, Adrien."

Ladybug nearly dropped the plate off the large wooden spool. "Who told you that?" she asked, turning around quickly to frown at her partner.

"I have my sources, bugaboo."

"Well, I don't know if _dating_ is the right word, not that I'd mind that."

"I heard you left a love bite on him," Chat Noir said with a grin.

Ladybug stumbled slightly. "WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!"

"Well, by now, everyone knows that Adrien's got one, but a select few know _who_ gave it to him. I figured it was you . . . unless it wasn't?"

"Um . . ."

"So it _was_ you."

Ladybug would never know that this was her karma for having so much fun teasing Adrien, because here was Chat Noir, having just as much fun teasing Ladybug. Of course, the circle would never end.

"Well . . . It was unintentional!" Ladybug blurted.

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"Don't you have anything else to say?"

"No."

"Oh, come on, there must be _something_."

"No, that's it," Ladybug said, folding her arms. "We were talking . . . and then . . ."

"And then?" Chat Noir prompted.

"And then I kissed him," Ladybug said. "That's it, I'm not telling you everything."

"Oh? So there's more?"

"Chat! Don't be like that, I'll tell Marinette to stop making cookies for you."

"Okay, I'll stop. Just . . . do you like him?"

"Yeah," Ladybug admitted, "sometimes I used to think maybe too much. Do you remember when I told you that I was in love with someone else?"

Chat Noir's jaw dropped, but not for the reason Ladybug thought. "You're joking," he said. "All this time, it was m-- Adrien Agreste. Wow. . ."

"You're not upset, are you?"

"Not at all. You deserve to be happy, m'lady. I guess I'll have to dial back on the flirting. I wouldn't want to overstep."

Ladybug laughed. "That would be much appreciated, kitty cat. Now, how about we get on with that patrol we were supposed to be doing all this time?"

"If we must," Chat Noir sighed.

Downstairs, Chloé let out a soft, frustrated growl.

"Now you know how their kwami feel all the time," Pollen said with a smile. "Come on, you should get some sleep, you'll wake up when Marinette returns, anyway." 

* * *

Gabriel was tired. It was late, and with everyday life continuing on, it was getting increasingly difficult to find ways to get is hands on the miraculous. He knew why he was doing it, and he knew that he would do anything short of murder to get what he wanted.

Although, sometimes, he wondered if there would come a time when he would cross that line. He knew he would do anything, but could he do _everything_?

For Emilie?

He had a plan, now. He knew what he needed to do. He just hoped it would work. All he needed was to make one wish. Just one wish, and everything would be all right.

Nathalie would help him. She was key in succeeding this time. She would be the one that would finally help him. Once she was akumatized, Nathalie would make him unstoppable, he was sure of it.

He paused outside his son's room. Sometimes he wanted to tell Adrien what he was doing behind closed doors, but he wasn't certain the boy would understand. Better to wait until Emilie had returned and Adrien would see that it was all for a good cause.

"If I play, will you sing again?"

Gabriel wondered who he was talking to, and why his son was still awake.

"Is that a yes?"

There was a slight pause.

"Please? It reminds me of her, and you sound just like her."

The sounds of the piano filled the air after a short pause. Gabriel stood there, mesmerized by the melody he hadn't heard in a very long time. He was about to leave -- Adrien deserved to keep some things to himself -- when he heard the voice wafting through the door, barely audible over the piano.

_J'en vois des qui se donnent_   
_Donnent des bijoux dans le cou_   
_C'est beau mais quand même_   
_Ce ne sont que des cailloux_

She sang softly and sweetly, but by this point, she had gained confidence, and the volume of her voice matched that of the piano, much clearer.

_Des pierres qui vous roulent_   
_Roulent et qui vous coulent sur les joues_   
_J'aime mieux que tu m'aimes_   
_Sans dépenser des sous_

"Emilie," Gabriel heard himself whisper. It appeared that Adrien was right. Whoever he was talking to, she sounded exactly like Emilie did. He couldn't bring himself to leave.

_Moi je m'en moque_   
_J'envoie valser_   
_Les trucs en toc_   
_Les cages dorées_   
_Toi quand tu me serres très fort_   
_C'est comme un trésor_   
_Et ça, et ça vaut de l'or_

Gabriel realised his hand was on the doorknob. It hurt to hear Emilie's voice, yet know that it wasn't her at all. He would do anything to bring Emilie back.

_J'en vois des qui se lancent_   
_Des regards et des fleurs_   
_Puis qui se laissent_   
_Quelque part ou ailleurs_   
_Entre les roses et les choux_   
_J'en connais des tas_   
_Qui feraient mieux de s'aimer un peu_   
_Un peu comme nous_   
_Qui nous aimons beaucoup_

Anything.

Whatever it took.

_Et d'envoyer_   
_Ailleurs valser_   
_Les bagues et les cœurs en collier_   
_Car quand on s'aime très fort_   
_C'est comme un trésor_   
_Et ça, et ça vaut de l'or_

The girl sang louder, each word bringing her new levels of confidence and allowing her to bury herself deeper in the lyrics. To get lost within then the way Emilie once did, to sing to Adrien with a unique passion and love for him.

_Moi pour toujours_   
_J'envoie valser_   
_Les preuves d'amour_   
_En or plaqué_   
_Puisque tu me serres très fort_   
_C'est là mon trésor_   
_C'est toi, toi qui vaut de l'or_

Anything.

And everything.

Whatever was needed.

Gabriel turned and left, pausing once again in front of the portrait of his wife.

 _C'est là mon trésor_  
Emilie was his treasure.

  
 _C'est toi, toi qui vaut de l'or_  
And she was worth gold.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé laughs her arse off as Marinette is asked to save Adrien's

"Marinette!"

Adrien skidded to a stop in front of Marinette and Chloé, nearly falling over and taking them down with him. It took both Marinette and Chloé to keep him standing.

"What happened?" Marinette asked when she was sure Adrien wasn't going to fall over. "You look like you ran a marathon."

"So, there is a small little problem," Adrien said nervously.

Chloé narrowed her eyes. She was well aware that Ladybug had visited Adrien last night, but she had let Marinette go alone. Marinette hadn't said anything about it, so she assumed all was well.

"And you're coming to me because . . .?"

"Okay, so Ladybug visited again last night and she was singing again --" he glanced at Chloé "-- you know, the one from the second time -- anyway, and apparently, my father was awake last night and he heard me playing and her singing and he asked me this morning who was in my room and I panicked and I said it was you."

Chloé, who had been running through worst-case scenarios in her head, burst out laughing in something of relief. "That's it?"

"It's not funny," Adrien said, folding his arms, "my father thinks Marinette has been sneaking into my room nightly and wants to know how she's bypassing the main gate. He also thinks that I'm trying to date her."

The more Adrien spoke, the more amused Chloé got. If everything were out in the open, Adrien would see why she was so amused. Marinette _was_ in his room last night, he just didn't know it. He'd lied, but it was still the truth.

"Chloé! I have a serious problem!"

"It's fine, Adrien," Marinette said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm happy to cover for you. Don't worry about it, and as for Ladybug, I'm sure she'll understand why you didn't say she was there."

"No, that's not the problem," Adrien said, shaking his head. "No, no, I'm sure that Ladybug would understand. Superheroes aren't meant to be hiding around in costume after all. No, it's not a problem. And besides, you're a really good friend of mine, and I really hoped you wouldn't mind. The other option was to say it was Chloé, but my father knows Chloé can't sing."

"Hey!"

"So . . . what _is_ the problem, then?"

Adrien bit his lip, hesitating. Chloé let out a soft laugh.

"My father wants you to come over for dinner."

Marinette's jaw dropped. Chloé froze for a second, before a fresh wave of laughter washed over her and she had to try very hard to stay on her feet.

Step six was proving to bring about more joy than she had anticipated. 

* * *

Sabine and Tom were overjoyed to hear that Marinette would be going out to eat at a friend's house. In a frenzy, Marinette had stumbled over her words to Alya and demanded that the brunette come over after school to help her.

Chloé's amused expression hadn't left her face once.

"Can I ask a question," Alya said as Marinette threw her wardrobe open.

"Shoot."

"Why are you going to Adrien's? And why are you treating it like a date? I thought you said he was with Ladybug."

Up on Marinette's bed, Chloé snorted. Alya glanced at the blonde on her phone and shook her head. She would just have to ignore Chloé.

"He is, but he panicked when his father asked and said he was with me and now his father wants to properly meet me. I have nothing to wear!"

"Girl, let me see," Alya said, standing up from the chaise and moving to Marinette's wardrobe. She pulled out a knee length dress. "This is cute."

"I can't wear that," Marinette said with a mortified expression. "It's indecent!"

"It's knee length!"

"It's strapless!"

"Okay, fine." Alya sighed and put the dress back. "Oh, this is cute, too," she said, pulling out a simple capped sleeve blouse.

"Oh, Chloé, I found the blouse you were looking for this morning. No, I can't wear that."

Alya frowned and put it back. "How about a skirt?" she asked.

"That's a mini skirt! I can't go to his house in a mini skirt!"

"Why not?"

"Alya. This is Gabriel Agreste, _the most_ amazing fashion designer of all time. And he thinks I'm dating his son! What will he say if I show up in clothes that aren't appropriate?"

"You're fifteen, you're not a nun. Some skin isn't going to get you arrested."

"Why don't you wear one of your things?" Chloé asked, leaning over the edge of Marinette's bed. "Something you designed?"

"What if Gabriel doesn't like it?"

"Please," Alya scoffed, "who wouldn't like your creations? Didn't you make a dress a few months ago? The cute Chat Noir themed one?"

Chloé nearly fell off the bed. "Yes! You can never go wrong with a superhero-themed outfit."

"It looks ridiculous," Marinette argued. "I made it because I was going to wear it to the costume party that never happened."

"It's still cute, and it's decent. I mean, knee length, sheer black stockings, capped sleeves, neckline isn't too low, and the shoes aren't even too high. It's perfect!"

"Go try it on, at least," Chloé said.

"Fine," Marinette said, reaching into her wardrobe and pulling out the outfit hidden in a plastic bag and walking behind the screen that was usually there for decoration. She just wasn't in the mood to go downstairs to the bathroom and then back up.

The room fell into a slightly awkward silence as Chloé and Alya ignored each other. It lasted the full three minutes Marinette spent getting dressed.

"Okay, see? It's ridiculous."

"It's gorgeous," Chloé said.

Marinette stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The sheer stockings thankfully had no rips, and it made her legs seem just slightly longer. The shoes were -- also black -- cute little kitten heel court shoes, with a belt going across the front that gave them a slight school shoe appearance. It made the entire outfit look slightly younger. The dress itself was rather simple.

It sat snugly on Marinette's body, with a ribbon around her waist, and the skirt falling simply to just above her knees. Like Alya had said, the sleeves were capped, and low as the neckline may seem, once Marinette put it on, it was high enough.

"I fail to see how this is Chat Noir themed," Chloé said, slightly disappointed. She was excited at the possibility of Marinette appearing before Adrien in clothes that acknowledged his alter-ego. This was better than sending her to him with a black kitten.

Marinette held up a lace choker with a little golden bell on it. "This would've completed the outfit -- and a mask -- but I'm not wearing those to a formal dinner."

"Why not? Chokers make your neck look good."

Marinette glanced at the flimsy accessory. "It looks like a Halloween item for an adult. I'm not wearing it in front of Gabriel."

"A Halloween item?" Alya asked.

"A kinky as --"

"Don't you dare curse," Marinette warned, setting the necklace down beside the mask on her dresser.

"Can I at least see how it looks?" Chloé asked.

Marinette paused. "Fine."

"And the mask, I just wanna see."

Marinette sighed. "I don't see why not."

It took a few seconds for her to get the string of the mask under her hair, but when she did, she faced Chloé and smiled.

"Oh, come on, breadhead. If you're in costume, at least act like it."

Marinette grinned. "Really? Do you honestly want me to start throwing cheesy puns at you? Are you recording?"

Chloé nodded. Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Come on," Alya said. "You've got the costume, where's the attitude?"

"You mean _cat_ -titude?" Marinette asked, putting one hand on her hip. "I'm glad you asked. It gives me the _purr_ -fect opening to insert all my puns."

Chloé grinned. "Flirt, Nettie, Chat Noir is a _major_ flirt."

Marinette laughed. "With who?"

"I dunno, Adrien?" Alya suggested. Chloé's grin widened. Alya was helping out wonderfully and she didn't even know it.

Marinette stared straight at Chloé's camera as if it were the blond model himself and gave a sharp meow. "Aren't you just the cat's meow?" she asked, smiling the way Chat Noir usually smiled when he flirted with Ladybug.

"Thank you," Chloé said, leaning back on the pillows. "You make a cute Chat Noir, by the way."

"Yeah, well, I need to get my face and hair done now," Marinette said, sitting in front of her mirror and dropping the mask and choker on her desk as she passed.

"Don't forget everything I taught you."

"Shut up. Alya, will you help me with my hair?"

"The iron is in the drawer on the right," Chloé called.

The room fell into a slightly more comfortable silence while Marinette did her makeup and Alya ironed her hair pin-straight.

"How do I look?" Marinette asked.

"Agreste says to keep the choker," Chloé called out.

"How does he know . . . Chloé! I'm going to grind your tooth!"

"What an absurd threat," Chloé said as she sat up. "Just in time, too. The boyfriend is waiting outside."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"He is," Chloé said with a grin, "he just doesn't know it yet."

"Oh god, I should've never put the choker on," Marinette said. She picked up the small black purse she had asked Tikki to hide in for the evening and put it over her head like she normally carried her purse.

"At least take it with you," Chloé said as she climbed down from the bed. "Adrien said you look nice."

"Because I was flirting with him! The poor boy gets so flustered every time anyone compliments him, what did you expect?"

"Come on, let's go," Chloé said, putting the choker in Marinette's hand as she passed. "Come on, Alya, we have to go threaten him about looking after our girl. It's tradition."

Alya was very confused, but Chloé was right. What would they be if they didn't threaten Adrien about looking after Marinette? Marinette sighed as the two girls left. She waited a few seconds, asked Tikki if she was all right and then left her room.

Marinette hid behind the door and watched as Chloé and Alya both leaned towards Adrien, a threatening finger wagging in front of his face.

"Oh my god, stop it. You're scaring him."

Adrien glanced at Marinette from head to toe. "You look better in person. Although, it's missing a little . . ." He gestured to his neck and Marinette sent Chloé an angry glare.

"Here, let me," Adrien said, tying the choker around Marinette's neck while the girl glared at Chloé with a burning ferocity.

"Well, aren't you just the cat's meow," Adrien said.

Marinette flushed scarlet. "One day," she told Chloé, "one day, I'm going to commit murder, and that is the day you will regret everything you've ever done."

"Oh, honey, I already regret everything. Now go on, and have fun."

Marinette dragged Adrien out before Chloé said something that would mortify her. Chloé managed to catch them just before Adrien closed the car door after Marinette.

"And don't forget to use protection!"

"CHLOÉ!"

"Oh, I hope it goes well," Chloé said.

"Isn't he dating Ladybug?" Alya asked.

"Yes, but who said that's gonna last?" Chloé asked. "I just want my best friend and my biggest responsibility to be together."

"Marinette is your biggest responsibility?"

Chloé shrugged. "When you willingly lose sleep to make someone else sleep, that kind of makes them your responsibility. That and the fact that she's basically a child who needs to be constantly watched and needs someone to make sure she's fed and rested all the time. Marinette is like . . . like a kitten," Chloé said with a smile.

Then she looked down. "GET THAT CAT AWAY FROM ME, CÉSAIRE!"

Alya laughed at Chloé, who compared Marinette to a kitten and then jumped away from a real kitten.

Maybe, just maybe, she and Chloé would get along.

For Marinette's sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo ten chapters to go if editing doesn't shorten this book even further


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien makes a bet with Marinette  
> Chloé starts laughing again

The table was silent. Adrien sat across Marinette, while Gabriel sat at the head of the table. Every few seconds, Adrien would give Marinette a small smile and Marinette would smile back.

"That's a very well done piece you've got," Gabriel told Marinette. "Where did you get it?"

"Um, I made it myself."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Completely by yourself?"

Marinette nodded. Talking about her designs was something she could do. "I designed the dress completely by myself from scratch. The interfacing was done with an old machine that I've got at home. I did the edge stitch by hand as well as the embellishments. The ribbon is sewn in on the sides and merely for decorative purposes. The sleeves were an afterthought, because I wanted to dress to sit a little nicer, so that's why they're attached the way they are. It was supposed to be a layered skirt, but once I attached it to the body, it looked quite nice, so I went ahead with the belt."

"I see. It's very well done. Do you often create pieces such as this?"

"I prefer to make hats, actually. I've got a whole collection of different styles and types. It's got quite a bit of variety. I do make other clothing items, but very rarely. I made a scarf sometime last year and I knitted a pair of gloves for my mother one winter."

"You made a scarf?" Adrien asked, forgetting that he was butting into his father's conversation.

"Yeah, I think it was blue? Or something. Anyway," Marinette continued, talking to Gabriel about the things she had made and her designs, leaving Adrien to mull over the blue scarf he kept in his wardrobe.

"Marinette," Gabriel interrupted, "talking about your successes is all well and good, but what about your failures?"

"Father!"

"No, no, it's fine," Marinette said, waving Adrien away. "I haven't always been so good at what I do. The very first time I set out, I made a huge mistake and I very nearly never picked up again. I'm thankful that I did, because look at me now. I'm amazing at what I do. That's not to say I still don't make mistakes, because I do. I just have to . . . learn from them, I guess. I've recently started using the thimble set I have." Marinette smiled.

Chloé would be proud of the way Marinette handled all the questions Gabriel kept asking.

"Well, I suppose there's not much else to ask. Tell me, how did you get in last night?"

"Funny story," Marinette said with a slight laugh as she glanced down at the napkin. "I never left," she answered with a serious look. "I don't know if anyone actually noticed, but I came home with Adrien yesterday. We were working on a school project together and well, we didn't really look at the time and then suddenly it was night. I've never actually heard Adrien play before, he's quite good at it."

Adrien nodded along as if the entire story was true.

"And it was a beautiful song, too. One of my old favourites, actually."

"Really?" Gabriel asked. He was quite sure Marinette was lying. "What's it called again?"

Marinette, who had been toying with the edges of her napkin, looked up. Adrien tensed -- this was it, he was going to be found out. He mentally ran through all the places he could go to avoid his father.

" _J'envoie_ _Valser_ , is it not?" Marinette asked with a smile. "Did you know it was actually Zazie's brother, Phil Baron, who composed the song for the 1995 album, Zen?"

Adrien stared at Marinette. She was truly amazing.

Gabriel nodded. "Yes, a beautiful song, indeed. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Marinette, but I must take my leave. Adrien will have our driver take you home when you're ready. Good night."

The second Gabriel left, Marinette heaved a sigh of relief and slouched in her chair.

"That was terrifying," she said.

"Marinette . . . come with me, I want to ask you something."

"Sure."

Marinette followed Adrien to his room, realising for the first time that she didn't actually know how to get there from the inside.

"That scarf," Adrien said as he closed the door, "the one you mentioned, you said it was blue."

"Mmhm," Marinette hummed, trailing her hand over the keys on the piano, light enough not to make a sound.

"This one?"

Marinette looked up to see the scarf she had intended to give Adrien on his birthday in his hand.

"Yes," she said after a moment.

"Why didn't you ever say? All this time, I thought it was from my father."

Marinette walked over and took the scarf from Adrien. "It made you happy to think that your father gave it to you," she said, tying it around his neck. "So why ruin that?"

"But you made it, and you never said."

Marinette shrugged. "That's quite all right, actually," she said, staring at the end of the scarf that sat in front of her. She patted it lightly and turned around. "Looks good on you."

"Marinette," Adrien said, grabbing her wrist and tugging backwards. Marinette turned, tripped, and fell towards Adrien, who reflexively caught her and steadied her.

"The song . . ." Adrien said softly, "how did you know?"

Marinette reached up to tuck Adrien's hair back, forgetting for a moment that she wasn't Ladybug. "I just did," she said, almost softer.

"If I play it now, will you sing?" To Adrien, it felt like he was holding on to Ladybug. If he stared hard enough, he could see Ladybug's mask beneath Marinette's dark hair.

"I . . . I can't. I don't know the words."

"Don't lie," Adrien whispered.

Chloé cleared her throat loudly.

Adrien dropped Marinette.

Marinette swore under her breath.

"Sorry to break it up, lovebirds," she called from the couch, "but I'm here to fetch Marinette."

"Sorry," Adrien told the girl on the floor, offering her a hand up.

Marinette smiled as she pulled herself up. "It's fine, as long as I didn't flash anyone."

Adrien was so flustered, he nearly dropped Marinette again. Chloé giggled. "Need a minute? I can wait outside. Try to keep the flirting to a minimum, Dupain-Cheng. Agreste is taken."

"Yeah, by your _good friend_."

"I'll kill you," Chloé said with a smile, turning away to fetch her kwami.

"Besides, I wasn't _flirting_ ," Marinette said. "Flirting would involve a lot more fun on my side."

"Oh, really?" Adrien challenged. "When was the last time you flirted?"

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "Don't you remember? I'm pretty sure this kitten was very fond of you."

Adrien flicked the little bell around Marinette's neck. "You don't have the stamina to flirt for more than two minutes, princess."

"Bet," Marinette said, narrowing her eyes and folding her arms.

"Fine. If -- and only _if_! -- you don't melt into a puddle of embarrassment by this time tomorrow, I'll ditch my father's charity ball this year to spend time with you guys."

"Done," Marinette said. "If I don't make it all day tomorrow, I'll bake you a cake."

"Red velvet?"

"With cream cheese icing."

"Done."

"Come on, Chloé."

"Could you refrain from calling me by my name?"

"It's just Adrien, Booger-geois."

"Come on, Dumbass-Cheng, you're way past bedtime."

Queen Bee opened the window and hopped up onto the ledge, holding out her hand for Marinette.

"See you tomorrow, Marinette. Good luck."

Marinette impulsively gave Adrien a hug. "You're gonna need all the luck you can get, Mr Agreste," she said softly before grabbing Chloé's hand and hopping up onto the ledge.

"You know, I'm beginning to think I made a mistake with this bet."

"You have no idea," Marinette said before Queen Bee got fed up and took off, dragging Marinette with her. 

* * *

"Just back out," Chloé said.

"I will not."

"I'll help you make the cake. You can't do this, Marinette. You're going to make him fall in love with you."

Marinette smiled. "I love how confident you are in my flirting abilities."

"No, I'm confident in Adrien's inability to _not_ fall in love. Please, Nettie, you're going to confuse the boy."

Marinette shrugged. "He was asking for it. I think Ladybug should visit him soon, just to assure him that she understands what a horrible person I am to make bets of this nature with him."

Chloé sighed. "My poor Adrikins," she whispered. "You're going to drive him insane. Oh, there he is!"

As soon as she pointed him out, Chloé hid her face by looking down. Marinette took a deep breath and shook her short hair out of her face. "Here goes nothing," she said.

"In front of _Nino_?!" Chloé hissed.

"And Alya," Marinette said, nodding towards the girl that joined them, giving Nino a slightly longer hug than the brief one Adrien received.

"Oh, I can't watch. I'm going to find Sabrina. Good luck."

Marinette took a deep breath and walked towards the trio purposefully. Despite her words, Chloé followed and hid behind the wall to listen in.

"Good morning, Agreste," Marinette said with a smile, coming up next to Adrien and snaking her arms around his arm, linking her fingers with his. "How did you sleep last night?"

"I didn't. I spent the whole night awake and in fear of this very moment."

"Buzzkill," Marinette muttered, letting go and rolling her eyes as she moved to give Alya and Nino a hug each.

"I'm not a buzzkill, you just have zero skills."

"Oh, but I've barely begun," Marinette said, giving Adrien a coy smile, hanging her arm around Alya's shoulders. "I'll see you in class," she told him with a wink, making sure to give him a once over look that she prayed would do the trick.

Adrien only laughed as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "You're getting better, but not good enough," he said, moving towards Marinette. "Princess," he added softly, flicking an imaginary bell around Marinette's neck as he walked towards the classroom, humming a tune.

Marinette stared at the spot where he stood with her jaw dropped.

"What just happened?" Nino asked.

"I have no idea," Alya said.

"Close your mouth, breadhead," Chloé said as she walked past, "you'll catch flies."

"THAT BOY!" Marinette snarled. "I'll show him. Nino, would you like to sit next to Alya today?"

"What?" 

* * *

Marinette slid into Nino's seat, barely making a sound. "I was just thinking," she said, leaning towards Adrien, "did it hurt?"

Adrien raised his eyebrows. "Before you say when I fell from heaven, let me just warn you that it's old, overused, and not very flirty."

"When you fell from the vending machine, because you're a snack."

Adrien did not have a response to the line, nor to Marinette quickly licking her lips.

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

"Is yes an acceptable answer?"

Marinette laughed. "Hey, do you remember when the floor hit you?"

Adrien froze, hoping Marinette wouldn't say anything further.

"I'll bet I could do a little better."

Chloé choked on the air, Alya and Nino stared in utter bewilderment, and Adrien seemed to have ceased to exist.

Marinette rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm free this afternoon if you want to test my theory."

Chloé, who had just recovered and was taking a sip of the water Sabrina provided, proceeded to choke on the water, nearly spewing it everywhere.

"I could sneak in again later if you want, instead," Marinette suggested, lightly tracing patterns on Adrien's forearm, her voice getting softer with each word. "Or maybe we could go see a movie instead. I hear the theatre gets pretty dark. If we book seats in the back --" she was almost whispering in his ear now.

"Okay, I give up!" Adrien said, springing out of his seat. Marinette, who hadn't expected Adrien to fold so easily, fell forwards and nearly off the bench.

"I give up," Adrien repeated. "You win, you're very skilled and I'm more than confident that you can go on like this for more than five --"

"Hm?"

"-- more than twenty minutes but I am _not_ about to test that because I can't do this anymore. I quit, I give up, I fold, you win. I'm done, please trade with Nino again I don't have the energy to do this anymore."

Marinette resembled Chloé the day before, curled up on the bench, wheezing until tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heroes' Day pt.1 has arrived, folks

The days passed as normal as they could be. Each morning, Marinette and Chloé walked to school together, the separated for the remainder of the day. Then they walked home together.

Every second day or so, Ladybug would pay Adrien a visit. Once in a while, Marinette would visit, just to keep Adrien's father from suspecting that they were lying and using the fact that Marinette hadn't once visited as a backing for his claim.

Every night, Chloé woke up near midnight, either having to wake Marinette up or play the video of Adrien playing the piano.

And they got used to it. None of them could imagine a time when their day _didn't_ go the way it did. Of course, Ladybug still showed up for akuma attacks, so not a single person suspected that she was having trouble sleeping. Now and then Chat Noir visited Marinette -- mainly to ask about Ladybug. Now and then, their new teammates would throw in a helping hand, and very rarely, both Carapace and Rena Rouge would make an appearance together.

"Chloé!"

The blonde was surprised to have been woken by a whispered shout of her name instead of a terrified scream. The surprise wasn't that she was woken by the whisper -- having to look after Marinette made Chloé a very light sleeper -- but she couldn't recall Marinette ever waking by herself.

"Are you awake?"

"I am now. What is it?"

"Can you come up here?"

"I swear, Dumbass-Cheng, if you make me share that tiny bed with you--"

"First of all, it's not that small. Second, I want to talk to you about something important."

Chloé sighed softly before throwing the blanket aside and sliding off Marinette's chaise and climbing the ladder to the top.

"Okay, I'm here."

"I know what we have to do."

Chloé raised an eyebrow. "Sleep? Visit your boyfriend? Bake?"

"No, about Hawkmoth."

Chloé woke herself up pretty quickly upon hearing that. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we have to get his miraculous to free Nooroo, and to do that, we need to get closer to him."

"Listen, Nettie, when you were afraid of getting akumatized, I promised you I'd take your earrings like you asked. Now, if you say you think you should get yourself akumatized, I might just stab you with the earrings."

"Stop jumping to conclusions. I don't _want_ to be akumatized."

"Yeah, you don't. It's awful."

"You'd know. You've done it twice. Anyway, we need to be able to track Hawkmoth down. So what if we could follow the butterfly back to wherever it comes from?"

Chloé shook her head. "That's not possible. After a certain time, the butterfly vanishes."

"How do you know?"

Chloé glanced at the two kwami sharing Tikki's cushion. "Pollen is very knowledgeable."

"What if we could trace the akuma?"

"After you release it, there's no way to find it."

"What if I don't release it? That way, it can't escape to form a repeat of Stoneheart, and it also can't escape. We could use it like a compass?"

"Can't. You'd have likely used your Lucky Charm during battle and Tikki would need to recharge. There's no way you could find the source in less than three minutes, because let's face it, you aren't going to solve the problem two seconds after receiving your Lucky Charm. And you'd need to stay transformed to use the yo-yo as a compass."

"Okay, but that would work if I didn't use my Lucky Charm?"

"I suppose."

"Well, there are five of us now, and that means more distractions to the villain. If I called all of you to transform, do you think we could win a battle without me using my Lucky Charm?"

"We might, but a better bet would be to have Pollen follow the butterfly after you release it. Kwami can follow purified akuma, but none of you can do it because that would involve revealing your identities. Everyone already knows I'm Queen Bee."

"Hmm . . . then we just have to wait for an akuma attack."

"Okay, can we go to sleep? Tomorrow is Heroes' Day."

"WHAT?!"

"Technically, today, if you think about it."

"CHLOÉ I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!" Marinette was hissing -- to keep from waking her parents -- but it was still pretty loud.

"Just take a box of macarons like every other year," Chloé suggested with a yawn.

"I CAN'T TAKE MACARONS PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE DOING BIG THINGS BECAUSE OF CHAT NOIR AND LADYBUG!"

Chloé sighed. "Fine, we'll come up with something. For now, go to sleep. I don't want to _hear_ you unless the sun is in my eyes, okay?"

"Okay, fine." 

* * *

"And you, Marinette?"

"I -- err . . . Ladybug and Chat Noir themed macarons?"

"So wonderful," Chloé grumbled while everyone else got excited about the macarons. Due to Marinette's incessant worrying, the pair had gone into the bakery near one a.m. and had baked the macarons together.

Chloé was now _very_ tired.

"Well, it's better than _nothing_ ," Alya challenged, assuming that Chloé's annoyance was misplaced.

"You think I did nothing?" the blonde said. She wanted to say that she was the one who helped make the macarons, but that would include telling on Marinette's lack of preparation and partly stealing her good deed. Spending time with Marinette seemed to have messed with Chloé's excuses-generator, because she just blurted out a few sentences in her most annoying brat-like voice she could conjure up.

"How dare you! Do you know what I've spent all week doing? Of course, you don't! As daughter of the mayor, I have decided that this evening, there will be a party dedicated to the heroes of Paris and --" here Chloé shuddered "-- and you're all invited."

Marinette's jaw dropped while her classmates cheered. How was Chloé planning on pulling _that_ one off?

When break time arrived, Marinette excused herself and headed to the bathroom, glad to find it empty, save Chloé. "Knew you'd come looking for me, bredhead."

"Okay, curls, how do you plan on organising a themed event when you aren't even at home?"

Chloé shrugged. "One threat about leaving Paris to daddy and he'll get it sorted out."

"And you invited everyone," Marinette said slowly. "You realise you'll have to get through an evening of talking to them, right?"

Chloé smirked and folded her eyes. "Do you realise that I also invited Adrien, which means that you'll have all evening to _not_ throw yourself at him because we both know who he's got his sights set on and it's not y--"

"Okay, _what_ is going on here?" Alya all just shouted as she threw the bathroom door open. "First, the two of you are talking to each other on the first day and apparently mocking each other. Second, Marinette, you're saving Chloé from a cat. Third, apparently, I'm incapable of consoling my best friend? Fourth, where did the two of you disappear after school? And now? What was that in the classroom? Mocking Marinette and then inviting everyone to some party? Since when do you do nice things, Chloé? Since when? What's your plan? Oh! And now this! _Throwing it_ in my best friend's face that you invited Adrien for this dumb party and just assuming that Adrien --"

"Alya, you're being --"

"No, let her finish, I wanna see where this is going."

Alya glared at Chloé, who waved Marinette away and waited.

"Just _assuming_ that Adrien likes someone else and I'm pretty sure you think it's you, but guess what? Adrien would _never_ like someone like you because you're mean and horrible. You're a vile person, Chloé, and you know that none of us like you. You stole a miraculous and now you pretend you're a superhero. You don't deserve--"

"Okay, that's enough!"

"I _said_ let her fin--"

"No," Marinette said firmly. "I said enough. Alya, that was extremely uncalled for," she said softly.

"But it's the truth --"

"You want to talk about the truth? Fine, let's do it. Let's have a nice long conversation about exactly --"

"Um, Marinette . . ."

"Not now, Chloé. So, Alya, where do you want to begin? When Chloé spent a week nursing me back to health or when I confessed my fears to you and you _brushed it off_?"

"Marinette . . ."

" _Not_ _now_! Let's hear the truth, I think I'll start right at the beginning."

"MARINETTE!"

"WHAT?!"

"The news," Chloé said. "Look."

She handed Marinette her phone and the three of them watched an inverted Ladybug vaporize Chat Noir with his own Cataclysm.

"That's not real," Marinette said softly.

"No shit," Chloé said, taking her phone back and putting it in her pocket. "I should get going, I'm sure Ladybug is going to need the extra set of hands with whatever follows that."

"I'm sure she is," Marinette said with a firm nod at Chloé. When Chloé left the bathroom, Marinette turned to Alya. "I'm sorry for overreacting, but we're gonna have a nice long conversation after all the drama settles."

And then Marinette opened the bathroom door to see an army of red akuma swarming the school. 

* * *

Marinette was rather surprised to be tackled by Adrien in order to avoid a swarm of angry butterflies that came at her.

Adrien stood up very quickly and offered Marinette a hand up. Then the two of them bolted to transform.

Ladybug paced the unused classroom, trying to call her partner. Finally, he picked up.

"Good morning, m'lady. We have quite the spectacle for ourselves."

"What's it looking like?"

"Oh, one, two, three, so very many. It looks like Hawkmoth's made an army for himself."

Ladybug sighed. "It's just as well. I'm planning on rounding up our own army. Stay out of sight, kitty cat, I'm going to remind Rena Rouge and Carapace that they have a miraculous each." 

"And Queen Bee, m'lady?"

"She's on her way. I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Until then, m'lady."

Ladybug closed the yo-yo and let it snap back around her waist.

"Where did they go?" The last she had seen Nino and Alya, they had been together, talking to each other to avoid being hit by one of the red akuma.

Ladybug knew that when she found them, they would be together. But there was no time to separate them, and she wasn't even sure she would manage to come up with a way to do it.

She paused slightly at the library. Something was following her.

So she went in and closed the door. Then she pulled herself up with her yo-yo and hung just above the door. Sure enough, it opened. "Gotcha," Ladybug whispered, reaching down and grabbing Sabrina's glasses. She broke it as she fell to the floor and captured the akuma. She didn't release it yet.

"Ladybug! I'm so glad to see you! We all saw you fighting Chat Noir and now he's gone!"

"That wasn't me, but I'm here now and I'm going to fix this. Get somewhere safe."

Sabrina dashed off and Ladybug continued her search.

"When this is over, I'll take you out to the movies."

"When this is over, _I'll_ take _you_ out to the movies."

"Bingo," Ladybug thought, hurrying into the locker room and closing the doors. "You guys like action movies, right?"

"Ladybug?" Alya asked. "The _real_ Ladybug?"

Ladybug nodded. "I'm sorry, I couldn't find a reason nor the time to separate you."

"What are you talking about?" Nino asked. He and Alya stood up and walked over to Ladybug, who grabbed the turtle bracelet on Nino's arms and the foxtail necklace around Alya's neck. "Rena Rouge, Carapace, I need you."


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heroes' Day pt2, fan-ladies and fan-gentlemen

"If you want to save Paris and all its people, I'll give you one last chance! Surrender! And bring your miraculous to me!"

Across the park, on the rooftop, Ladybug's position slowly slouched.

"Penny for your thoughts, my lady?"

"It looks like he's been preparing this for a very long time," Ladybug said, glancing back at the army of scarlet villains, "but _we're_ not prepared for this."

"Excuse me, can I borrow you for a moment," Chloé said, grabbing Ladybug"s hand and pulling her aside. "Listen to me," she said softly, but sternly, "and listen to me well. All of Paris is counting on you to save the day, and I'll be damned if you don't. I can see it, you're afraid, but that's okay. Everyone is afraid sometimes. But you're Ladybug, you need to be stronger than that. Again, we need you to pretend you're not afraid of failure. Are you paying attention? You're not going to get anyone killed, okay? And if you keep worrying about it, you're making yourself a potential target for an akuma. No matter what, you _do not_  get yourself akumatized by one of those butterflies or when I take your earrings like I promised, I won't give them back. That enough motivation for you to keep the akuma out of your earrings?"

Ladybug smiled. "Thank you, Chloé."

"Hey, it's Queen Bee, remember?"

Of course, a certain curious cat heard everything. Ladybug walked past her teammates and stood up on the ledge. "Hawkmoth!" she shouted, grabbing all the attention. "I hope you enjoyed Volpina's illusion, because the real Ladybug would never give you her miraculous!"

And as always, Chat Noir followed his partner without question. "And we have a better idea! You're the one who's going to give us your miraculous!"

"You may have an army of akumatized warriors," Carapace began.

"But we are a team of superheroes!" Rena Rouge finished.

"You're going to regret even putting that utterly ridiculous costume on!" Chloé shouted.

Hawkmoth only laughed. "Since you've decided to fight, may your wish come true. Guitar Villain, Frightningale, music!"

"Let the battle begin!" Prime Queen said. "Hawkmoth's army against the superheroes! Will Hawkmoth get their miraculous?"

"Focus on our objective!" Ladybug told her teammates as they charged, "it's Hawkmoth we need to beat."

"Simple," Chat Noir said, "go for the big bad boss."

"We'll show him!" Rena Rouge said.

"You can count on us, Ladybug," Carapace shouted.

"Try not to trip over your yo-yo," Queen Bee teased.

"Try not to trip over your standards," Ladybug retorted, grateful that Chloé kept her amused.

Stormy Weather rose into the air with multiple other villains and directed a wave of lightning at Ladybug.

"Carapace!"

The green turtle sell flew over Ladybug's head in time to deflect the attack back at its source.

The next lot to strike was Riposte, Rogercop and Le Mime. Riposte held out her sword.

"Your swords are nothing against Chat Noir. A small demonstration, Chatton?" Ladybug asked, glancing at her partner.

Ladybug sprang out of the way as Chat Noir charged at the three.

While Carapace fought back to back with Chat Noir, Ladybug hurried to catch the akuma Queen Bee released. Rena Rouge caught Jalil Kubdel as he fell before throwing her flute like a javelin at Princess Fragrance. "Heads up, Chloé!"

"Hey!" the blonde shouted as she caught Róse. "It's Queen Bee to you, fox!"

"We make a good team," Chat Noir told Ladybug as she captured two more akuma that he and Carapace freed.

"Not bad," Ladybug agreed, "but it's not over yet."

Ladybug dodged the steady stream of attacks from Stormy Weather, and while she kept the girl distracted, Chat Noir launched Queen Bee at her.

( _YEET!_ )

Ladybug captured another akuma.

"You hurt innocent people, Hawkmoth!" Ladybug shouted after capturing Rogercop's akuma. "But it's almost over! Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug was given a tennis racquet, and she knew just what to do with it. "Get ready, I'm going to need everyone."

The sounds of angry growling caught Ladybug's attention, and she turned to see new akumas landing on people they had just freed. "What?"

"Hawkmoth is using Dark Cupid to create all the negative emotions he needs!" Chat Noir said, noticing the akumatized Kim fly off.

It was getting increasingly difficult to avoid both the villains and the arrows.

"It's a nightmare!" Carapace shouted.

"Stay focused!" Ladybug ordered. "We must not let him win!"

"A rain of scarlet akumas is waiting for you!" Hawkmoth shouted.

Ladybug turned to look at the Eiffel Tower only to see the swarm of red butterflies rise and begin their descent towards the heroes.

"Look out!" Ladybug cried.

They fought and fought, backing each other, but they were beginning to get outnumbered. Ladybug's nightmares flashed before her eyes as Rena Rouge dove in front of Carapace and Dark Cupid's scarlet rose hit her.

"LADYBUG, THE AKUMA!" Queen Bee shouted.

Ladybug snapped out of it and threw her yo-yo, capturing the butterfly that nearly entered Rena Rouge's necklace.

"Rena, no! Don't let negative emotions take over, or you'll get akumatized! That's what Hawkmoth wants!"

Carapace approached her, but Dark Cupid's arrow was beginning to do its work. Angry, Rena Rouge attacked Carapace, and the latter held her tight, keeping her in place.

Princess Fragrance aimed at the pair, but Queen Bee was quick to drop down and shield the pair of superheroes. "Don't worry about me, Bug-brain --"

The light teasing brought a smile to Ladybug's face. "I know, you little beekeeper. You'll never let your emotions get the better of you."

"You know me so well," Queen Bee said with a smile as Chat Noir freed another akuma for Ladybug to capture.

"CHLOÉ!"

The striped heroine paused as she watched three figures appear before her; Style Queen, Malediktator, and Despair Bear.

"Daddy?! Mom!"

"Focus, Queen Bee!" Ladybug shouted.

While Queen Bee dodged the attacks from her family, Rena Rouge flipped Carapace over and waited for an akuma to take its place in her necklace.

"You can call me Rena Rage."

The cry that Carapace let out caught the attention of the remaining three superheroes.

"LADYBUG, FOCUS!" Queen Bee shouted as Carapace too was taken over by an akuma.

"Carapace, no!"

"Don't you dare zone out now, Bug! Paris needs --"

"Stay still!" the akumatized Jean shouted as the little bear attached itself to Chloé for Dark Cupid to hit and for an akuma to enter her hair clip.

"No!" Ladybug shouted. "CHLOÉ!"

"Can't you use your Lucky Charm?" Chat Noir asked as he narrowly avoided Queen Wasp's attack.

"I needed everyone to use it," Ladybug called, focusing on saving what remained of Paris. "It's no use now!"

And soon enough, Ladybug and Chat Noir were back to back against the army of Hawkmoth's victims.

"I don't know how we're going to get out of this one, m'lady."

"We're going to get akumatized if we lose hope," Ladybug said, Chloé's words ringing in her ears.

"The situation is rather cataclysmic, isn't it?"

"Of course!" Ladybug shouted, throwing her partner a smile. "Cataclysm! Chat Noir, the ground!"

"With pleasure. Cataclysm!"

And with a strong punch to the ground, the stone caved in and the pair of heroes disappeared. 

* * *

Ladybug's miraculous beeped frantically. "I'm going to detransform soon," she said. There was a fork in the pipes. "I'll take this side, you take that."

Chat Noir nodded and the pair of them split to either side of the wall.

"That was a close call," Marinette told Tikki, offering the kwami a macaron. She stood bent over, catching her breath. Her now loose hair fell over on either side of her face.

On the other side of the wall, Chat Noir called off his transformation and gave Plagg a slice of Camembert. "Eat up, we don't have much time."

"We'll share," the kwami said, splitting the cheese. "You need it too."

"Thank you, Plagg," Adrien said, accepting the cheese. "Is everything all right, my lady?"

"Hawkmoth has never re-akumatized so many people at the same time," Marinette said. "Something's changed."

"Maybe he figured out how to boost his powers, like us?"

"Do you still think we can win?"

"You said so yourself, we have to keep hoping. Everybody's counting on us."

"But . . . we don't even have a team."

It took all the strength Marinette had to keep her fears at bay. It didn't help that her old nightmares kept flashing before her. Now with Chloé akumatized, who would take her earrings if need be?

"Then we go back to the working formula," Adrien said. "A duo. You and me against the entire world!"

Marinette smiled. She still had her kitty.

A roar rippled through the pipes. "They found us!"

"Fancy a round of toboggan?" Adrien asked, already heading towards the end of the pipe.

"Don't forget your diving suit," Marinette called as they jumped.

"Tikki, power up!" Marinette shouted, throwing the macaron out with her eyes closed.

"Plagg, power up!" Adrien called, tossing the slice of coloured camembert into the air, eyes closed.

The pair of superheroes transformed just before hitting the water.

Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy, as Syren appeared before them, and from the way they'd come, Animan had taken the shape of a shark.

"To each their own," Chat Noir said, going after Syren while Ladybug took on Animan.

It didn't take very long for them to break the objects and release the akumas. As soon as she captured them, Ladybug held her yo-yo to Otis's mouth for a rebreather while Chat Noir's unattended staff provided the same for Ondine.

"It's going to take us way too much time to de-akumatize all these villains one by one," Chat Noir said as they headed out towards the river with the two freed victims.

"That's why we need to directly attack Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. "He's using his cane to re-akumatize his victims. If we manage to destroy it, he won't be able to count on his army!"

And right in front of them, the river began to freeze up. Turning the other way wasn't much help, as the river was freezing up from both sides. The only way left was up.

"Detransformation!" They shouted as they launched out of the water just as the lake sealed up completely. They landed hard on the ice in their normal suits, Otis and Ondine safe.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo far enough to break Frozer's skates and capture his akuma. Then she found one of Prime Queen's cameras. "Don't miss the rest, dear viewers. It's time to show everyone that the real Ladybug is back!"

And with that, Ladybug opened her yo-yo and released a swarm of pure butterflies so powerful, it rocked the camera.

Darkblade and his army waited for them, along with the other akumatized victims.

"A small detour?" Ladybug suggested.

"Excellent idea, my lady," Chat Noir said as they began walking backwards before turning and sprinting.

"Any miraculous ideas, my lady?" Chat Noir asked as they ran down the street, avoiding the attacks sent their way.

"Besides running and surviving, you mean?"

They just managed to jump over the pile-up of vehicles and a bus turned on its side. They landed on the floor and watched Nora Césaire climb atop the bus, the French flag in her hand.

"Parisians! We can be heroes for today!"

Marinette recognised her parents, Alya's mother, her friends and even little Manon among the crowd of unakumatized victims.

"Sacre bleu!" Darkblade said. "They are revolting. Charge!"

"Are you okay?" Gina Dupain asked, holding out a hand to Ladybug, who gratefully took it.

"We're so happy to have you back," Marlena said.

"All Parisians are by your side," Gina said.

"We'll slow them down," Marlena said, "just take care of saving the city."

"You're the best!" Ladybug said. "Thank you! Be careful!"

Then she grabbed Chat Noir's arm and pulled him after her. All around them, the citizens were distracting or directly attacking the akumatized, including three akumatized superheroes.

"These people are amazing!"

"That's why you must never lose hope, Chatton!"

"I'll leave Glaciator to you, Chat Noir," Ladybug said as they slid over the ice.

"Purr-fect timing, the battle has made me quite hungry."

Ladybug attacked Robustus, and the pair succeeded in getting the two to take each other down.

It was just them and Hawkmoth now. 

* * *

"It's down to the three of us," Ladybug snarled, " _Hawkmoth_."

"Cataclysm!"

"Lucky Charm!"

While Chat Noir held out his right hand warily, Ladybug opened the hexagonal, Ladybug printed box.

"It's a sign, Hawkmoth," she said, holding it out. "A sign your miraculous will end up where it belongs. In this box!"

"Are you sure you aren't making a grave mistake?" the scarlet coloured Hawkmoth asked. "That the wish I want to express wouldn't be immensely beneficial?"

"For each wish, there's a price to pay," Ladybug said. "Why not tell us what you wish for?"

"Give me your miraculous and you'll find out," Hawkmoth said. "Unlike you, I'm not scared of this power. Since you are the heroes, why did you never bother to change the world for the better?"

"Think again, Hawkmoth," Ladybug said. "Each day we change the world. By our actions, not by akumatizing innocent people to get what we want."

"Your wish can only be maleficient," Chat Noir said, "considering all the chaos you caused."

They walked up to him, Ladybug holding out the box.

"It's not too late," Ladybug said, "You can do what's right."

And then, in the reflection of the glass box, she saw Hawkmoth rise up behind her. Immediately, she pushed Chat Noir out of the way and caught the two akuma he released. One of Dark Cupid's arrows hit the illusion of Hawkmoth and he vaporized. Instinctively, Chat Noir threw his staff like a javelin and it broke the jewel, releasing the akuma for Ladybug to catch before catching Kim and lowering him to safety underneath the Eiffel Tower.

"You're nothing but a coward, Hawkmoth!" Ladybug shouted furiously.

"But this time, you can't hide anymore," Chat Noir said.

With both of them attacking from both sides, it didn't matter that they were each half his size. Eventually, Ladybug snatched the cane from his hands and Chat Noir caught it in his right hand, destroying it.

A wave of red bubbled over the villain and he stood before them in his ordinary purple suit.

"Very well, children," Hawkmoth said, getting into a fighting stance. "I'll show you what a man who has nothing to lose can do."

And the battle they engaged in was far more ferocious than the previous, with Hawkmoth quickly gaining the upper hand.

"You will never win," Hawkmoth said as his charged butterflies created a tube around him and the fallen heroes. "Not today, not any other day. You're still inexperienced, young superheroes, incapable of staying transformed after using your superpowers."

He got ready to deliver a final blow and take what he wanted, but out of nowhere, a green shield flew at him, knocking him off balance and the wall of butterflies dispersed.

"Need a hand?" Rena Rouge called from between Carapace and Queen Bee.

Ladybug nearly fainted with relief. Her friends were okay. She stood up with renewed purpose and gave her yo-yo a good throw, creating a cage of sorts around the section of the Eiffel Tower where they stood.

"You are trapped in our net now," she growled, "you're not going _anywhere_."

"Venom!" Queen Bee shouted as she and the other two joined Ladybug and Chat Noir. "I'll paralyze him and then you can do what you want, Ladybug."

And slowly, they advanced towards the trapped villain, prepared to take him down once and for all.

They were not prepared to see the outline of a strange symbol on Hawkmoth's face, drastically different to the butterfly that appeared on the faces of his victims, but eerily similar.

"No! Don't do this!"

The only time any of them had ever seen such fear, was when Chloé woke Marinette up after a truly terrible nightmare. And just like that, Hawkmoth fell to this knees as something manifested behind him.

"That is the _ugliest_ thing I have ever seen," Queen Bee said. "And that's counting your morning hair," she added to Ladybug.

Ladybug only had a second to be amused before the creature beat it's wings. Ladybug held on the longest due to her tied up yo-yo, but it too soon gave way. She threw it and it wrapped around one of the creature's legs. Ladybug used the leverage to pull herself forwards, but the creature vanished before she could even touch it.

"What. . ." She moved to inspect the white item exiting the cane and floating away. "A feather!" she said as her team returned. "The second miraculous Master Fu lost was --"

"The peacock miraculous!" Chat Noir said.

"Hawkmoth is gone, Bug-brain!" Queen Bee called, rushing to the edge only to see the icy view.

"He must've taken advantage of the distraction," Rena Rouge said. "Fled while we weren't watching."

Chloé bent and picked up one half of the cane.

"We can use this to find him!" Carapace said.

"Or not," Chat Noir said as both halves disintegrated.

"He must've detransformed," Rena Rouge said.

"Ladybug!"

They all turned to see Queen Bee practically holding Ladybug up.

"My lady! What's wrong?"

"She's exhausted," Queen Bee said. "Let me take her home. You all should go too."

"No, I have to . . ."

Queen Bee looked at the ladybug-print box that was in the spotted heroine's hand. "Oh. Let us help you, Bugs."

Together, the five of them tossed the box up into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous began to beep. They had about two minutes left each. Queen Bee still had four.

"Wait, what's wrong with Ladybug?" Rena Rouge asked when the swarm of ladybugs didn't seem to fix the heroine draped over Queen Bee's shoulders.

"She'll be all right," Queen Bee promised. "Don't worry, I can look after my good friend."

The reference to the documentary made Ladybug smile, but she still clung to Queen Bee in a fearful manner.

"Go home," Queen Bee said sternly. "Your families must be worried about you."

"Let me help you," Chat Noir said.

"One, I am perfectly capable. Two, Ladybug wishes to keep her identity a secret, and it is imperative that I respect that. Three, the hotel isn't even that far. Go home, silly kitty."

Queen Bee gave her top a solid toss, as far as it could go and gave a small tug to test whether it had latched on to something. "I'll see you three at the party -- that's still on, by the way."

And before any of them could ask if she knew them or if she was just assuming they were in her class, Queen Bee gave the string a solid tug and made sure she was holding on to Ladybug before they flew from the Eiffel Tower.

"That girl is something else," Chat Noir muttered.

"Do you think Chloé knows who Ladybug is?" Rena Rouge asked.

Carapace shrugged. "It's Chloé, if she did, she probably would've said something about it."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hohohohoohohoho shit's about to go DOWN in the next chapter  
> hold on to your hats, folks


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé and Marinette concoct a disaster that Alya catalyses
> 
> (also, Chloé finally gets to drop that f-bomb Marinette keeps stopping)

Chloé pulled the last curtain over the window. "Okay, it's safe. All the curtains are closed. If any of them did follow us, they can't see you."

"Just in time, too," Ladybug said as her transformation wore off.

Without warning, Marinette launched herself at Chloé and hugged her as tight as she could.

"What is this?"

"It's called a hug, you rich brat. It's what us poor people do when we want to show someone that we were worried about them and that we are so relieved to see them again."

Chloé smiled and hugged Marinette back, much more gentle about it.

"I'm still alive, breadhead, and so are your loser friends, don't worry. See, you fixed everything. And you didn't get akumatized! I'm so proud of you!"

"I was so scared. Every time I blinked, I could see one of my nightmares, but I had to pretend like it was okay, because everyone needed me to. It was so hard, and I was so scared. At first, I didn't even know what to do. I was so scared."

"Shh, it's okay," Chloé soothed. "You're safe now. You remember this room, right? You slept here, you were safe here. There's nothing that can harm you in here. Come on, lie down for a while. I'll get you something to eat, okay? Don't worry about Tikki, Pollen already showed her to some food. Will you be all right while I'm gone?"

Marinette sat down on the side of Chloé's bed and shook her head. "No, I don't want to be alone."

Chloé marveled at the change that had come over Marinette since she first sought Chloé out.

When she first arrived, it was because she had wanted to be alone, and now . . . now that was the one thing she didn't want.

"Well, if you think you can brave my parents, then we can go down to the kitchen together. Or we could make a beeline for the bakery."

"That would be nice," Marinette said.

"Would you like me to tell Jean to ready the car, or do you want to take another trip via Queen Bee?"

"Tell Jean to get the car. I'll get motion sickness with you."

Chloé was relieved to note that Marinette was well enough to throw playful insults. "I'll rip your dress," she threatened.

* * *

Later that evening, Marinette and Chloé returned to the hotel. Chloé had chosen an unworn dress from her wardrobe before they left and Marinette -- on multiple requests from Chloé, Alya _and_ Adrien -- had slipped back into her black dress.

Chloé had -- for the first time since she got her hands on an iron -- her hair falling in its natural curls. Her dress was a deep red, and she had matched it with black shoes. Marinette teased her about trying to create a Ladybug themed outfit. Chloé didn't argue.

"You know," Alya said as she approached, "I'm pretty sure the host is supposed to welcome the guests."

Chloé smiled. "Well, someone had to trek all the way to the bakery to fetch Marinette."

"Wow, you look even better in this lighting," Alya told Marinette. "I see you've willingly worn the necklace."

"Adrien likes it," Marinette said as an explanation, which Alya accepted without any further questions.

"And Chloé, you have a nice party going on here."

"Thank you. Listen, breadhead, I'm going to go find Adrien, okay? You remember what we discussed, right?"

Marinette nodded. "Chin up, shoulders back, smile and wave, and everything else."

"Good girl," Chloé said, sounding like she was praising a child who just mastered tying their own shoelaces. "You know where to find me if you need me."

And with that, Chloé walked off.

"Listen, Marinette, I'm sorry about yelling earlier too. I just want you to be able to trust me. I'm your best friend. We talk to each other and we share with each other. Hasn't it always been like that? What changed this time?"

Marinette took a deep breath. "Believe me, Alya, if I knew how to explain it, I would've done it by now."

"Okay, I won't ask any questions for the rest of tonight. Let's enjoy this party. But tomorrow, tomorrow you tell me everything, okay?"

Marinette nodded, "Okay. Now, let's go mingle. Well, you go mingle for now. I just need to take a breather outside."

And just like that, Marinette vanished. Alya debated heading outside, but she was also curious as to why Chloé hadn't yet returned with Adrien. She knew Adrien was here, she'd seen him a while ago. She hoped she remembered right and counted the doors and floors until she was sure she had reached Chloé's room. She listened for some time, and she knew she was in the right place when she heard voices in there.

"Don't be like that, Adrikins! Tell me!"

Was that Chloé?

"Okay, fine," Adrien laughed, "but please let go of my arm, you're going to dislocate my shoulder."

Alya frowned.

"Okay, so my father hasn't gotten Nathalie to physically drag me back to his stupid charity ball because he thinks I snuck out to be with Marinette. He still thinks we're dating, you know. I don't know, but as long as he doesn't realise it's you, we should be fine."

There was a soft giggle. "Marinette is a great friend to help you keep your lie steady."

"Yeah," Adrien agreed, "she's amazing. But you're better. Don't tell her I said that."

"My lips are sealed."

Alya's frown deepened. What was going on?

"And if I kiss you?"

"Adrien!" There was another pause. "You'll have to find out for yourself."

"What are you doing?"

Alya hit her head on the doorknob as she jerked up. "Chloé? You're _here_? I thought -- then who's--"

"Please don't tell me you were _spying_ on Adrien," Chloé said, folding her arms.

"I wasn't," Alya said defensively. "Who's with him? Because they were talking about Marinette."

"Oh my god, can you leave the boy alone with his girlfriend for one minute? They don't get to spend much time together."

There was a loud shriek from inside. "I'm _ticklish_ , Adrien!"

"I didn't know that!" Adrien shouted with a laugh.

"STOP IT!" 

Chloé abandoned giving Alya her disappointed speech and banged on the door. "Keep it down there are other people in here!"

"Sorry," two voice chorused.

"Chloé," Alya nearly whined. "Since when does Adrien have a girlfriend? Why are they hiding in your room? Who is she? Does Marinette know?"

Chloé banged on the door again. "Césaire has questions!"

The door opened a few seconds later to reveal Adrien with his normally neat hair wildly sticking out in all directions. The shirt he wore was also ruffled and creased beyond repair. "We got into a fight," he explained to Chloé.

"I see . . . for the record, the floor hit you on the other side of your neck."

Adrien covered his neck with his hand. "Go away, Chloé."

Alya noticed someone hiding behind Adrien, watching the doorway. Determined to find out what was going on once and for all, Alya pushed the door open. The girl she wore a short polka dot dress. She looked perfectly normal, except for the mask covering her eyes.

"Hello," Ladybug said, not letting go of Adrien at all. 

* * *

Convincing Alya to keep the secret was harder than they thought, and she got up multiple times stating that she needed to tell Marinette until Ladybug stood up as well.

"Marinette already knows! Why do you think she's willingly covering for us with Adrien's father? No one else can know!"

"But why not?!"

Chloé grabbed Adrien and moved him away from the two girls that looked on the verge of a screaming match.

"It's bad enough _you_ found out, if _Hawkmoth_ finds out I'm in love with Adrien, _who_ _knows_ what he'll do to get me to hand over my miraculous!"

Alya paused. "You're in love with Adrien?" she asked, glancing behind at the beaming boy. Chloé rolled her eyes.

"Alya, you can't tell anyone," Ladybug said, her hands on Alya's shoulders. "Please."

"Okay," Alya said after a moment. "Okay, I won't."

"Right," Chloé said, standing up, "now that all that's out of the way, let's go."

"What? Who?"

" _Us_ , Adrikins," Chloé said, gesturing between her and Alya. "Calm your whiskers, Ladybug isn't going anywhere yet. And don't forget to lock the door, we don't want anyone else catching Ladybug in the hotel. Have fun," she finished, grabbing Alya's arm and dragging her out of the room.

"Wait, you're just going to leave them in there? Together? Alone? What if--"

"Will you relax?" Chloé asked as Adrien turned the lock. "It's not like it's the first time, anyway. The devil may work hard, but we work harder to let Adrien see his girlfriend. Come on, there's a party downstairs, and I'm pretty sure a certain DJ is looking for you." 

* * *

"There she is," Chloé said. "Are you ready?"

"This is it," Marinette said. "I have never been more unprepared."

"Not even for Adrien catching you off guard with that first kiss?" Chloé teased with a grin.

Marinette smiled slightly. "Should I tell her the whole truth?"

"Whatever you feel is necessary, Nettie. I'll be hiding around, yell if you need me."

"Okay." Marinette took a deep breath and took a few steps forward. "I can't do it!" she said, turning back around. "What if something goes wrong? What if--"

"You'll be _fine_!" Chloé interrupted. "Now, go over there and say what you need to say. She wanted to talk to you anyway. It's way too early for other students to be at school now, so it's just you and her -- and me."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. "You're not going to take the Tikki approach and remind me I'm Ladybug and that I can do anything?"

Chloé scoffed. "You're Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You can do _anything_."

Marinette smiled. "Okay. Okay, I can do this."

Marinette took a deep breath again and walked over to the girl waiting on the side of the staircase to the school.

Chloé hid behind the bush, waiting.

"Hey, Alya."

"Hello," Alya said. "Where did you disappear to last night?"

"Well, since you already know, I suppose I can tell you. I was helping Ladybug get into the hotel."

"So, um, how long have you known? About Adrien and Ladybug?"

Marinette shrugged. "Since the beginning, I guess."

"Oh . . . and you never told me? Actually, forget that. I assume Ladybug asked you to keep its secret. If you knew, _since the beginning_ , why did you keep flirting with Adrien all the time? Also, where did this sudden confidence come from? Don't tell me a week with Chloé made you so _amazing_."

"It did! Chloé was there for me when I needed her most and when I needed to be alone, she left me alone. It was Chloé who took care of me in my worst week yet. It was Chloé who dragged me out of my nightmares every single night. It was Chloé who forced me to shower and get dressed every morning. It was Chloé who made sure I ate, Chloé who made sure I called my parents, Chloé who made sure I was still alive!"

"Why didn't you come to _me_?!"

Chloé winced. They were shouting at each other now.

"I _couldn't_ come to you! There was no way you would've understood what it's like to be haunted by your dreams! You would've never understood why I wanted to be alone! You could _never_ have understood!"

"Try me, Marinette! Why didn't you at least try?!"

"I did, Alya! I told you my deepest, darkest, most terrifying fear and you _brushed me off._ I went to Chloé for that week because the very same day I mentioned it to you, she called me. Did you hear that? _She called me_. And not to say anything specific. She asked me what would happen if I were akumatized. Then, without directly doing it, she assured me that Ladybug and Chat Noir would save me. Do you have any idea how much I needed to hear that? How much I needed to hear that no matter what, I could be saved? That my fear was real and that it was okay? I had to hear it from _Chloé_. Not from _you_ , from _her_. That's why I went to _her_."

"Why didn't you tell me, Marinette? Why didn't you talk to me? You mentioned it once and then never again?"

"Because I didn't want to hear the same thing over and over and over again! You're too nice to get akumatized. You're too happy to get akumatized. You've got a good heart, my lady. You're a sweet girl, Marinette, you'll never get akumatized. All of that did nothing but make it worse! Do you even know what kind of dreams haunted me -- still haunt me?!"

"No! Because you won't talk about them!"

"Fine! You know what I see when I close my eyes? Your! Dead! Body!"

Alya's anger vaporized and she stared at Marinette in shock. "My what?" she asked softly.

Marinette didn't notice the change in Alya's demeanour. "Every time I try to sleep, I see you dying. I see Nino dying. I see Adrien dying. I see Chloé dying. I see my parents, your sisters, and _more_ _half_ _of goddamn_ _Paris_ _dead_! You have no idea what it's like to close your eyes and watch the people you love die over and over again. You have no idea what it's like to see all that and then have someone you trusted tell you that your dreams are significant or whatever. You have no idea what kind of fear that creates. That's why I never slept for nearly a whole week. That's why I didn't talk to anyone. That's why I stayed on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, like some statue! Who am I supposed to tell them I've seen them die?!"

Alya didn't stay surprised for too long. "Chloé, apparently!"

"Yeah, because Chloé and I never got along before and I knew that if she judged me, I wouldn't have cared. But despite that, when I went to her, she took me in, kept my secrets, and made _me_ heal myself. Chloé made me look at her when I woke up crying for her and she forced me to see that she was still alive. Chloé took me to see Adrien the night I woke up screaming for him! Chloé took me to sit outside your window and make sure you were okay when I woke up screaming for you. Chloé took me to see Nino! Don't you get it? Chloé looked after me when she didn't have to! Chloé did what no one else could."

"Yeah, because you never went to anyone else!"

"How do you tell a superhero you saw her death, Alya?! _How_?! How do you tell your partner you saw him die?!"

In the bush, Chloé's eyes widened. "Shit," she whispered. This wasn't what she had hoped to happen.

"How do you go to people and tell them you've seen their dead bodies?! And the worst part was that _you killed them_! Can you imagine ever telling Nino that you dreamt about murdering him in cold blood, not once stopping to think about who he is to you? Can you honestly stand there and tell me that you would've come to me if you had dreamt about driving a knife through my gut?"

"You spoke to Chloé about it," Alya shouted, not concentrated enough to find some other argument. Marinette had dreamt about killing people?

"You know what," Marinette said softly, standing up straight and wiping unshed tears from her eyes. "I can't do this right now. I need to go."

And with that, Marinette turned around and left, not wanting to let Alya see how badly affected she was. She walked away from the school, wondering if she could hide up in her bedroom.

"Marinette, wait!"

Marinette sped up, wanting to avoid everyone more than anything. She kept her head down, wiping at her eyes every few seconds.

Then she walked into Adrien, who steadied her and looked as worried as he had ever been. "Marinette? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Let me go."

"You're upset. What happened?"

Alya stopped a few feet away. Chloé hid behind the closest tree.

"Nothing," Marinette said forcefully, trying to wrench out of Adrien's grasp. "I'm just sick of everything and I want to be alone."

"Marinette. You need to talk to someone."

"Chloé will come find me. Leave me alone."

"Did you fight with Alya?" Adrien asked, noticing the brunette a few feet behind Marinette.

"Yes, now let go of me, Adrien."

"What happened?"

" _Ladybug_ happened!" Marinette exploded. "Everything that is wrong with me right now is because of Ladybug! Ladybug this, Ladybug that, Ladybug the protector of Paris -- I'm sick of it! I want it all to stop, I want to curl up and go to sleep and wake up fine again! I have never felt so broken in my life and it's all because of a stupid pair of earrings! Sometimes I wish Ladybug never even existed!"

Chloé was so shocked, she stepped out from behind the tree to look at Marinette properly. Only Alya noticed her.

"Listen, Marinette, you'll be all right. Ladybug will fix everything, don't worry. I'll talk to her -- Marinette!"

Chloé shook her head as Adrien grabbed Marinette's arm while the girl tried to leave. She couldn't find it in her to make any sound to stop Adrien.

"Ladybug can't fix this one, Adrien!"

"You don't know that, Marinette."

"Just trust me on this one, Agreste," Marinette said. "Ladybug can't fix it."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because Ladybug is me!"

"Fuck," Chloé whispered as Marinette yanked her arm from Adrien's grasp and took off. "Marinette!" she shouted, chasing after the bluenette.

Alya walked up to Adrien. "Marinette is Ladybug."

"Marinette is Ladybug," Adrien repeated, still stunned by the discovery. "Marinette is Ladybug! She's going to get herself akumatized in that state! We won't be able to stop her!"

"Oh, no. You go after her, I'll get help."

"Who are you going to get?" Adrien asked, already heading in the direction Marinette took off.

"Help! You go try to stop your girlfriend from getting akumatized!"

Without wasting a second, Adrien ran off, transforming. When they all found Marinette, she was crouched on the ground behind the school wall. Rena Rouge and Carapace joined Chat Noir as the three of them watched Chloé launch herself at Marinette mid-transformation.

When Queen Bee stood up, she had her fist clenched around something.

Slowly Marinette stood up, leaning against the wall for support.

"Marinette," Rena Rouge began.

The four of them stared at her as a purple wave washed over her. When it left, Marinette stood before them as if she were Ladybug, but her eyes weren't the kind ones they were used to seeing. They were cold, challenging, half covered by her hair, and outlined by a bright purple butterfly.

"Call me Ladybug," she said, a deathly expression on her face.

Chloé swore again.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is okay, y'all can chill

"Marinette," Rena Rouge tried again.

"There is no Marinette," the girl in front of them snapped turning to glare at Rena Rouge. "All of you love Ladybug so much, so that's all that's left. Just me, and all the power of creation I could ever want -- and more. Now you can have your Ladybug, and Marinette will never bother you ever again."

"Marinette, please --"

"Marinette is GONE!" Ladybug shouted at Carapace. "You'll never have to worry about her again. Why the long faces? Was she a really close friend?"

Rena Rouge opened her mouth, but Ladybug didn't give her a chance.

"Then you should've looked after her," Ladybug seethed. "Do not for one second think that I forgot what you all did to her, especially you, _kitty_ _cat_." The old endearment didn't sound very endearing the way Ladybug spat it at Chat Noir.

"I know who you are, kitty. Don't expect me to hide it." She stepped back and tilted her head, an eerie smile on her face. Behind her, Queen Bee stepped back as well, holding her clenched fist to her chest. "What are you standing around for? Fight me. Try to release my akuma. You'll never get it."

The three of them stood before her, prepared to fight. She laughed. "Look at you. All of you, weak and inexperienced. What's the best you can do? There's no one who can purify the akuma and soon, there'll be hundreds of me waiting around to attack. That is, if you even manage to release it. Why so sad, kitty? Your Ladybug is still here."

"You are _not_ Ladybug," Chat Noir growled, determined to free the akuma. "And I want Marinette back."

"For what? You've never loved her. You only ever loved Ladybug."

Queen Bee took another step back in fear. She never thought she would see her hero akumatized. She was just glad Ladybug couldn't see her, also effectively keeping Hawkmoth from seeing her. After all, the villain could only see what his victims saw.

"Cataclysm!"

Ladybug caught Chat Noir by the bell and pushed him up against the wall, clamping her forearm against his throat and pinning his right hand to his side. "What are you going to do with that, kitty? Destroy my earrings? I know you, kitty, and you wouldn't dare."

And then, to the great surprise of everyone -- Queen Bee included -- Ladybug kissed Chat Noir, longer than any kiss had lasted before. But she didn't seem very gentle. She still had a vice-like grip on his right hand, keeping the Cataclysm away from her, and the other tugged on the bell, pulling Chat Noir down to her height.

"I just had to check," she told him. "Good luck trying to free the akuma. I told you, you'll never find it."

"Where is it?" Chat Noir asked. 

None of them expected her to answer. She stepped back, raising her arms. "I _am_ the akuma. You want to free it, you'll have to hit me with that cataclysm. Like I said, good luck."

Then she doubled over, clutching at the sides of her head. "So what if I'm stalling?" she shouted, presumably at Hawkmoth, judging by the butterfly around her eyes. "Take it, then, I dare you."

"Marinette!" Rena Rouge cried as the girl stumbled forwards, parts of her Ladybug suit missing.

They paused in confusion as the half akumatized girl stretched her arm backwards and Chloé dropped something in her hand.

And as the last bits of her costume left to form a solid purple butterfly, Marinette put her earrings back in her ears.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug caught the akuma before it left to return to Hawkmoth.

"Thank you, Hawkmoth," she said as she allowed Queen Bee to lead her to the wall where she propped herself up.

"Did it work?" the striped heroine asked. "Tell me you didn't through that for nothing?"

"It worked," Ladybug said. "I know who he is."

"What do you mean?" Chat Noir asked.

Ladybug stood up properly. She smiled, and for a moment, they could've sworn she looked like she was still akumatized. "I know who Hawkmoth is."

And then she passed out.

"Meet us in my room at Le Grand Paris," Queen Bee said, propping Ladybug up. "You need to get rid of that," she added, gesturing to Chat Noir's right hand.

Queen Bee took off with Ladybug before any of them could say anything. 

* * *

"You can detransform, you know," Chloé said. She was sitting up against the headboard, her hand on Marinette's forehead, looking almost like a worried mother checking for fever. "I already know who you are. Chat Noir will be here soon."

Rena Rouge and Carapace glanced at each other.

"L-Marinette told you?" Rena Rouge asked softly.

Chloé looked up. "As if. She would never. No, I came to that conclusion by myself, the same way I figured out who Chat Noir is. She dreamt about you often. She'd murmur in her sleep a lot, your names most often. Then she'd wake, screaming for superheroes. It wasn't hard to put it all together. She's really damaged." Sighing, Chloé ran her hand over Marinette's hair the way Chloé's own mother had never done for her. Marinette had never looked so peaceful in her sleep. Chloé hoped the peace would last after they took Hawkmoth down.

There was a flash in front of her. She glanced back to see Alya and Nino. Pollen spoke softly to the two kwami and guided them to her drawer lined with Chloé's most delicate silks that Tikki was resting in.

"She didn't want to fight with you, you know. That wasn't part of the plan. I told her to talk to you because you deserved answers. I never expected it to go downhill so fast. The plan was to catch an akuma and use it, not hurt her and get her akumatized."

Nearly a minute, Chloé's bedroom door flew open. "Where is she?"

"She's asleep," Chloé answered as Adrien sat down on the floor next to the bed. "She's fine. It takes a lot to hold off Hawkmoth for so long, and then to restrict him . . . she's just tired. She'll be fine."

"All this time, it was her. She was right in front of me from the beginning."

Chloé smiled as Adrien took Marinette's hand. "Well, technically, she was right behind you. All you had to do was turn around in class."

"How does she put up with you?" Adrien asked, looking up at the girl sitting and hovering over Marinette.

"You used to put up with me," Chloé said, ruffling Adrien's hair.

"When we were ten years old." Adrien pushed Chloé's hand away. 

The blonde retracted her hand immediately. "I'm turning into Sabine," she murmured to herself. Then she smiled, glancing at Marinette before looking down at Adrien again. "She needs me. Without me, she can't sleep, she doesn't eat, she's just so afraid of everything. Do you know, she dreamt about you more than the others? She would scream so loud, she woke herself up. Sometimes it was a mission to wake her up and even then, I had to make her realise she was awake."

Adrien kissed Marinette's hand softly and the girl smiled in her sleep, curling her fingers around his hand.

"And then I brought her to visit you, and I recorded you playing that song. I used it to calm her down almost every night after that."

"Hey, Chloé . . . you're not surprised or anything?"

"That you're Chat Noir? No, not really. I've actually known for a while. Ever since I got the video. You showed Pollen to the cheese and your kwami was in there."

"Hello," Plagg said, emerging from his hiding spot at the mention of him.

"Hi," Chloé said. "You must be Plagg. The others are in the drawer over there," Chloé said, pointing. "I had Jean bring up some Camembert, Tikki says it's your favourite."

"It is!" the black kwami said, green eyes lighting up. "Thank you."

And then he was gone, right through the wood.

"What do we do now?" Adrien asked.

"We wait for Marinette to wake up. She'll tell us who Hawkmoth is and then we end this once and for all."

"And after?" Adrien asked.

Chloé paused. "We take his miraculous and we give it back to Master Fu . . . and then we decide what to do with whoever is under that mask."

"How? Last time we fought him off, he had help. What if the peacock miraculous is used again?"

Chloé shrugged. "Ladybug will fix it," she said, glancing at Marinette. "Ladybug fixes all my messes. You should go talk to Mr and Mrs Jaw-dropped over there."

"Are you sure?"

"They don't know who you are, Whiskers. I'll yell if Marinette looks for you while you're talking it out. The terrace is yours."

With a sigh, Adrien stood up. Marinette let out a soft whine when Adrien tugged his hand away, but she curled up again soon enough.

A tiny black kitten wandered into the room from the open sliding door. "Hello, minou," Chloé said as the kitten scrambled to get on the bed and when she did, she curled up against Marinette. For the first time, Chloé showed the kitten affection, absently running her hand over the animal's back. The kitten purred and burrowed closer to Marinette. The three of them stayed like that for a while.

"I know," Marinette said, dragging Chloé's gaze from the trio on her terrace. "I know who he is."

"I know you know. But before you say anything, you have to drink something. One glass, that's all."

Without waiting for a response, Chloé lifted Marinette's head and brought the glass to her lips.

Chloé was so focused on rehydrating Marinette, she didn't notice Adrien, Alya, and Nino return.

"Marinette! You haven't even finished half!"

"I don't want," Marinette whined.

"I don't care. You already fainted once, I don't need it happening again. Drink."

Alya, Nino, and Adrien watched as Chloé force-fed Marinette the water.

"She really meant it when she said Chloé forced her to eat and drink, huh," Alya said softly.

"Marinette, if you don't finish at least half a glass, I'll knock you out myself and take Hawkmoth down on my own."

Glaring at Chloé, Marinette sat up, took the glass and drained it.

"Was that so hard?" Chloé asked with a smile. Then she held up a plate. "Food next."

"I don't want to eat."

"And I don't want you to die. Open your mouth, it's your mother's casserole again."

Reluctantly, Marinette opened her mouth and let Chloé feed her. Bite by bite, Chloé fed Marinette the whole helping of the casserole. "Good girl," Chloé said, tucking Marinette's hair behind her ears. "Now, relax, I'm going to fetch your boyfriend and the nerds."

"Wow, we're so touched," Nino said.

"Oh good, you're done. Have a seat wherever you please. Marinette?"

The girl was staring straight at Adrien with an apologetic look.

"Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth," she stated, deciding that there was no point trying to beat around the bush. "And I know how we're going to beat him." 

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay here?"

Chloé rolled her eyes. "My answer hasn't changed since in the last five minutes, breadhead. Go and claim your space before the three of them spread out and leave no space for you. Alya and Nino are already asleep anyway."

Marinette sighed. "Okay, I'm going."

Chloé rolled over, hanging her arm over the backrest of the couch. "Night, Dumbass-Cheng."

"Night, Booger-geois."

Marinette yawned and crawled under the duvet to see Adrien staring up at the ceiling. "Hey," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Adrien whispered back. He turned his head to look at Marinette. "Why would you do that? Put yourself in so much danger . . . to find out who Hawkmoth is."

Marinette shrugged. "We needed to know. And Chloé and I had it planned. We just didn't think it would work. Besides, I needed to tell Alya the truth anyway. I just wish I'd been a bit calmer about it."

"It was risky, Marinette, and what if we didn't get you back? There would have been no Ladybug to purify the akuma and there would've been no Marinette. We would've lost you for good."

"But you didn't."

"That's besides the point," Adrien said, turning and propping himself up on one elbow. "It was dangerous and you shouldn't have done it. What if --"

"It doesn't matter. It's over. Look, we have a busy day tomorrow, okay? We spent the entire day planning this, even if something goes wrong, we will win, okay? I'm sure that it'll eventually work out. Pollen knows a lot about the other kwami, so it'll work, I'm sure of it. I'm not gonna lie to you, Adrien, there's a lot that could go wrong, something we may have not even planned for. But you need to rest, because I need you to be on your feet tomorrow for everything to work out."

"I can't sleep," Adrien said, laying down again and going back to staring at the ceiling.

"Go sit outside for a while," Chloé called from the couch. "Maybe sit on the deck chairs. You'll feel better."

Marinette nodded and climbed off the bed. "Come on, come sit outside with me."

Nino woke up as Adrien and Marinette slipped through the sliding doors. "What's going on?"

"Go back to sleep," Chloé said, "they're just getting some fresh air. You can't blame Adrien. He just found out he's been fighting his father all this time."

"Yeah," Nino said with a yawn as he lied back down. "Very bad."

Chloé rolled her eyes as Nino fell asleep instantly.

Outside, Marinette curled up against Adrien as they shared the deck chair. "For the longest time, I thought I was alone. Then I ran away to Chloé and things seemed to be brightening up but then . . . then someone used the peacock miraculous. Whatever happens, it ends tomorrow."

"And after we win? Do we give our miraculous back to Master Fu?"

Marinette shrugged. "There will always be some kind of evil. Maybe it won't hurt for Paris's superheroes to stick around."

"Hey, Marinette, I never got to tell you without your mask."

Marinette leaned her head back and looked up at Adrien. "What?"

"I love you."

Marinette smiled. "I love you what?"

"I love you, my lady," Adrien said, kissing her forehead. "You know, you're a real tease, Marinette. All of that, messing with me during class, that silly bet . . .  you knew exactly what you were doing."

"So did you, Chatton, springing questions on me during patrols and akuma fights. I'd say we're even."

"We are so not. I had to witness you flirting at extreme levels. I am still not over that."

"What did you expect when I spend half my time around Paris with the biggest flirt in tights?"

"They're not tights!"

Marinette laughed. "Whatever you say, kitty cat."

"They're _not_!"

Inside, Chloé smiled.

Step seven: fix Marinette.

Step seven: accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> small little happy chapter coming up next. treasure it. there won't be another


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here, have a small happy chapter
> 
> CHLOÉ HAS A FAMILY Y'ALL I'M BOUTTA CRY

The five of them walked into the school together after piling out of Chloé's car. They pushed all their plans to the back of their minds, focused on enjoying their day, making every effort to be nice to each other.

Chloé even got away with teasing both Nino and Alya along with Marinette.

"You're late," Ms Mendeleiev said as they walked into class, laughing at Adrien's expense -- Marinette had given him a kiss on the cheek, leaving him flustered and sputtering to form a sentence. "And where the five of you yesterday?"

"Marinette got akumatized," Chloé said as she sat down next to Sabrina.

"Yeah," Marinette said. "I turned into Ladybug."

"Yeah," Alya agreed. "And we had to stop her, and then after we saved her, we all sat down and planned how we're going to defeat Hawkmoth."

"We even have two fall-back plans," Nino said.

"Adrien?" Ms Mendeleiev asked. "Aren't you going to contribute to this ridiculous tale?"

"Uhh . . . no?"

"Hm," Ms Mendeleiev said. "I can't believe the five of you just didn't come to school yesterday, and you have the audacity to walk into my class, late, and laughing. I ought to put you all in detention!"

"But how will we take Hawkmoth down if we're in detention?" Adrien asked. "We didn't plan for _detention_!"

Marinette snorted as she and Alya sat down behind Adrien and Nino. "Nice one," Alya said.

"I'm serious," Adrien said with a serious expression. "Guess we'll have to reschedule."

"I guess you will," Ms Mendeleiev said, turning back to the chalkboard. "Now, like I was saying . . ."

"Look what you caused, you ass," Marinette whispered, leaning over her table.

"You love this ass," Adrien retorted.

Marinette smirked. Adrien wanted to battle it out again? She could do that. "You bet I do," she said, kissing his cheek -- or she planned to.

"Ow!"

"What happened?" Ms Mendeleiev asked, turning around.

"Nothing," Adrien snapped, holding on to his ear and throwing Marinette a glare. The teenage superheroine only shrugged and smiled sweetly.

"You're wicked," Alya told her friend.

"I try," Marinette responded. 

* * *

"So, what happened in class?" Chloé asked as the group walked towards the bakery for lunch.

"Marinette bit me!" Adrien cried.

"You were asking for it," Marinette said. "You shouldn't have started a war."

"Oh, is that what that was? Wait and see."

Marinette giggled and squeezed herself between Chloé and Alya. "I have bodyguards," she said.

Alya laughed. "Do not put me between your lovers' quarrels."

"Yeah, me neither."

Adrien glanced at Nino, who shook his head. "Don't look at me, dude. You started it."

"I hate you all."

"Even me?" Marinette asked with a slight pout.

"Especially you. In fact, I might kiss you in hate later."

"Looking forward to it, Agreste."

Chloé let out an exasperated sigh. "Things were better when you only did this on odd nights."

"Jealous, Booger-geois?"

"Absolutely not."

"You so are," Alya teased.

"Lunch is on me if you can keep the teasing to a minimum," Chloé announced as she pushed the door open.

"We'll try," Nino said.

"But we make no promises," Adrien said.

Marinette let go of Alya and Chloé to greet her parents. "Maman, Papa, my friends and I would like to have lunch here. Chloé's going to buy--"

"Of course!" Sabine cried, ecstatic to have heard Marinette laughing again and hanging out with someone other that Chloé. "Come on upstairs, you lot. We're lucky we have extra lunch today."

"Uhm . . . are you sure, maman? There's _five_ of us."

"The more the merrier," Tom said. "Upstairs everyone. Break doesn't last forever, you know."

A series of glances passed between the teenagers before they raced each other up the stairs.

"I call first helping!"

"It's _my_ house, Clotpole!"

"I'm an honorary Dupain-Cheng daughter! Your mother said so!"

"I was the seat closest to the food," Alya shouted.

"No, me!" Adrien cried. "I'm hungrier than you."

"Please," Nino scoffed. "I deserve all the food."

" _It's my_ _house_!" Marinette shrieked, but she was smiling.

Sabine and Tom opened the door to see all five of them trying to fit on one chair.

"Right, we're sitting on the floor," Sabine said. "Marinette, get the old mat. Chloé, will you fetch the cushions? Everyone else help me move the dishes." 

* * *

"Your mom is the best, princess," Adrien said as they walked back to school.

"Oh, it's princess now?" Nino asked.

"I thought she was your lady?" Chloé asked.

"Oh, please," Alya said, "everyone _knows_ Adrien only has heart eyes for Ladybug. Marinette's just a little distraction."

"I will _launch_ my boyfriend at you," Marinette threatened.

Adrien put his arm around Marinette's shoulder. "You know what's still bugging me? What made you decide it was nice to mess with me like that?"

"The bet? That was solely for my amusement. I wish you saw your face, Adrien, it was the best expression I have ever seen. I only wish it had happened during class. That would've been so much funnier."

"What bet?" Nino asked.

"Do you remember the day Marinette was flirting non-stop with Adrien?" Chloé asked. "And she told you to swap seats with her?"

Nino nodded.

"Well, the night before, Adrien bet Marinette she wouldn't be able to flirt for a full day. He caved not even five minutes in."

"Listen, I didn't know you and Ladybug were the same," Adrien argued. "If I had known, I wouldn't have caved so easily."

"Is that so?" Marinette asked.

"Bet," Alya said. "By this time tomorrow, we'll see who's the bigger flirt."

"Fine," Marinette said. "May the best flirt win."

"Oh, I will," Adrien said.

"I want in!" Chloé shouted.

"I have an idea," Nino said. "It's questionable, but if the entire circle hasn't flirted with each other at least once, are we even truly friends?"

"May the best flirt win," Alya repeated.

"I intend to," Chloé said.

"Oh, please," Alya scoffed. "The only thing you can flirt with is your reflection."

"You wanna bet on that too, Foxy?"

"I will not cave, I will not cave, I will not cave, I will not cave --"

"This is a sign that Chloé will knock Alya out," Nino said.

Marinette laughed. Behind them, something crumbled, creating dust cloud. Chloé sighed. "See you on the other side," she said.

"Absolutely," Marinette said with a wink.

And then they split to transform. 

* * *

"Heads up, shellhead!" Queen Bee shouted, wrapping the string of her top around one of the vines that had someone trapped in it. She yanked back on the plant and it dropped its victim. "Good catch," she called when Carapace caught the boy.

" _You're_ a good catch," Carapace called back with a wink.

"Lame!" Rena Rouge shouted as she sprang past with a laugh, aiming her weapon at yet another vine. "Ladybug!"

Ladybug swung by and grabbed the little girl by her arm as the vine released her.

"What a strange akuma," Chat Noir said. "It's not trying to _eat_ the people, it's just picking them up."

"I'll pick _you_ up if you want," Rena Rouge told him.

"Lame!" Carapace shouted.

Ladybug dropped next to Chat Noir. "We need to find the source."

"You can do that. You're good at finding things, seeing as you've found your way into my heart."

"LAME!" Chloé shouted as she joined the pair. "But on a more serious note, we _do_ need to find the source."

"My guess would be that whoever it is, they're in that giant green ball of leaves that has just one window," Rena Rouge said as she joined the three of them, pointing to the said item.

"Sorry, we were just so distracted by your radiance, we couldn't see anything else," Carapace said as he too joined them.

"Hm, Lucky Charm!"

They all stared at the large bottle in Ladybug's hands. "Is that vinegar?" Queen Bee asked, sniffing the air. "Eugh! It is!"

"What are we supposed to do with that?" Carapace asked.

"We're going to kill the plant," Ladybug said with a grin.

"How do you kill a plant with vinegar?" Chat Noir asked.

"Silly kitty," Queen Bee said, flicking the bell the way Ladybug would. "You dehydrate it."

"And overheat it," Ladybug added. "We could do with a second sun for a while," she added, raising her eyebrows at Rena Rouge.

"At your service, m'lady," Rena Rouge said, bowing slightly.

"Okay, here's the plan," Ladybug said. 

* * *

Carapace covered Ladybug while she dumped the vinegar over the plant, blocking all the attacks.

"Mirage!" Rena Rouge cried, creating an illusion of a second sun, hot enough to dry the plant out.

"Venom!" Queen Bee yelled as she hurled herself at the person in the centre of the dead plant. She snatched the tiny pot plant in the frozen child's hand and hurled it at Chat Noir.

"Cataclysm!"

A wave of purple washed over the child and he returned to normal -- still frozen -- as Chat Noir caught the object in his right hand.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" the spotted heroine shouted, throwing the empty bottle into the air, watching as Paris cleaned herself up.

"Pound it!" they shouted, a circle of fists together.

"I'll see you all in ten minutes," Ladybug said. "Feed your kwami and your ego. You know where to meet me."

* * *

Ten minutes later, they stood on the roof across the Agreste mansion.

"Hey, remember when I said I was never more unprepared?" Ladybug asked.

"When you were talking about going to talk to Alya?" Queen Bee asked.

"Yeah, I feel like that now."

"Understandable," Carapace said. "We are about to storm into a heavily secure building, we could get trapped in there."

"Maybe," Rena Rouge said, "but one way or another, this is the end of it all." 

"Welcome to the endgame," Chat Noir said, staring at his home.

Although she said nothing, Chloé disagreed. They were in the endgame the night Marinette had her first nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, remember when I told you that you were gonna need Dynasty by MIIA just to cry a little because I'm mean? 
> 
> Yeah, time to download that song and be sad with me over the next three chapters.
> 
> speaking of, HOLY CRAP ONLY THREE CHAPTERS TO GO???
> 
> AND SO THE ENDGAME BEGINS SOMEONE HELP I'M BOUTTA CRY I'M LISTENING TO DYNASTY ON REPEAT AND I'M NOT OKAY.
> 
> Prepare yourselves for the next three chapters, 'cause that shit gonna HURT.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé remembers a drawing  
> Marinette concocts another potential disaster

"He's gone," Queen Bee concluded. "We searched the whole building."

"So is Nathalie," Chat Noir said. "You don't think . . ."

"I do," Ladybug said. "Who else could it be? _Someone_ had to have picked up that miraculous, and since you and he were both there on the Eiffel Tower, that just leaves Nathalie."

"Hey, look!" Carapace said.

They all turned to where he pointed to see a single purple butterfly fluttering around.

"He knew we were coming," Rena Rouge said softly.

"But how?" Queen Bee asked. "Adrien never went home yesterday, and he didn't know about--" she stopped, just in case Hawkmoth was listening in.

"He was in my head," Ladybug said. "He knew I figured it out. He must've figured we'd come after him."

The butterfly flew out the window.

"Follow it," Chat Noir said. "I'm sure it'll lead us to him."

"What if it's a trap?" Carapace asked.

"It doesn't matter. We said we would end this today. One way or another. Come on."

* * *

Of course, where else would it lead them but the Eiffel Tower?

"Welcome," Hawkmoth said as they approached. "I see you took the bait."

Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo, prepared. "We asked you once to give up your miraculous. You fought us. We won't ask again, and without your little helper, you have no army. Give up your miraculous, or we will take it."

Hawkmoth brandished his cane like a sword. "Take it," he said.

"Chatton?"

"With pleasure," Chat Noir said, grabbing his baton and launching into an attack, fully aware that he was fighting his father. Every moment of suppressed rage and hurt resurfaced to strengthen his attacks. Every time he felt belittled by his father returned to mind as he attacked. Every villain he had saved from his father flashed before him as he backed Hawkmoth into a corner of the Eiffel Tower.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Hawkmoth asked as a blue outline appeared around his eyes. "Ah, Mayura, right on time."

The gruesome purple creature from before reappeared and beat it's giant wings again.

"Did you?" Ladybug called out from above.

Hawkmoth looked up in shock and then back at the hero in front of him that slowly faded away.

From behind, Chat Noir extended his staff, knocking Hawkmoth squarely on his back and throwing him off balance and straight into Queen Bee's strings.

Ladybug dropped from the bars to stand beside her partner. "Easy, kitten, we don't want to kill him."

"Maybe I do," Chat Noir growled.

"You don't," Ladybug said firmly. Then she faced Hawkmoth. "We know the peacock miraculous is damaged. Nathalie won't stay that way for long."

Chat Noir scoffed at the look on Hawkmoth's face. "Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?"

"No, but you seem to be under the impression that I did not come prepared. Volpina!"

Ladybug growled in frustration as Hawkmoth vaporized the way Rena Rouge's false Chat Noir had.

"Lila!"

Akumatized, Lila could create as many illusions as she wished. But she couldn't exactly be creating illusions if she was locked in a battle against the true holder of the fox miraculous.

"We prepared for you using children as your attack, Hawkmoth!" Ladybug called out as Rena Rouge attacked Volpina mercilessly, each trying to snatch the other's necklace.

"You're a coward who won't even show his face after what happened last time!" Chat Noir shouted.

"Am I?"

The minute he stepped out from behind a beam, Chat Noir shouted, "Carapace!"

The green shield came flying out of nowhere, knocking Hawkmoth in the face.

"Carapace!" Ladybug scolded.

"No no, I asked him to do that," Chat Noir said.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo, trapping Hawkmoth. Queen Bee walked up to him, not yet calling on her superpower.

He vanished.

"Mayura!" Ladybug shouted. "She's leeching off Rena's miraculous!"

Sure enough, Rena Rouge seemed to be getting a little more tired with each illusion Mayura created.

Another Hawkmoth came at them, preventing them from going to Rena Rouge's aid.

"She can do that?" Carapace asked.

"The peacock miraculous is already damaged," Ladybug shouted as she avoided a stream of butterflies that she didn't know were real or an illusion. "For all we know, Mayura can do anything."

"According to my kwami, its original purpose to provide protectors to people in dire need," Queen Bee said, "but in Nathalie's hands, she's using it to feed off the power of another miraculous in order to keep it from damaging her own health."

"She can do that?!" Chat Noir asked.

"She can do whatever she wants! The peacock miraculous works with deeper magic that none of us can understand. For all we know, she could use it to feed off an uninhabited miraculous."

Once again, Hawkmoth vanished.

"Coward!" Ladybug shouted.

"You had to make it worse," Queen Bee said as three versions of Hawkmoth appeared before them, each one walking out from behind a different pillar.

"To each his own," Carapace said.

"I couldn't agree more," Chat Noir said.

"You help Rena," Queen Bee told Ladybug. "I'll take the third butterfly."

Ladybug nodded and dropped between Volpina and Rena Rouge, blocking Volpina's most violent attack yet with her yo-yo shield. "About damn time," Rena Rouge said, relaxing against the beam behind her.

"You're welcome," Ladybug said, throwing her friend a smile. "I beat you once," she told Volpina, "and I'll do it again."

"Try," Volpina said, taking advantage of the pause to create multiple versions of herself.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rena Rouge said. "Just knock them all out!"

Ladybug did just that, aiming her yo-yo at each Volpina's head, watching as each one vanished and one more took her place. Rena Rouge looked around until she spotted the real Volpina, playing her flute. Silently, she crept towards her and snatched the necklace from right under her nose. "Ladybug!"

Ladybug turned to see Rena Rouge smash the necklace into the ground, releasing the purple butterfly. Ladybug caught the butterfly.

"No!"

Ladybug froze. That was Hawkmoth, and he sounded near.

She glanced at Rena Rouge, who nodded and grabbed hold of Lila to prevent her from getting akumatized again. Ladybug then crept around, searching for the villain.

Queen Bee, Carapace and Chat Noir were backing each other as they fought off the three Hawkmoths when suddenly, all three vanished.

"Well, would you look at who I found creeping around."

Rena Rouge let go of Lila as she saw Hawkmoth leading Ladybug towards her teammates, a strong grip on her short hair to keep her from fleeing.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir shouted, moving towards her, but Queen Bee grabbed his left arm and shook her head at him. Rena Rouge grabbed Lila's wrist and dragged her down so that she could stand with her team and still keep an eye on Lila.

Hawkmoth reached out with his other hand for one of Ladybug's earrings. She stopped trying to get her hair out of his grasp to swat at his hand and growl. With her other hand, she snatched her one earring off and held it tight in her fist. Hawkmoth sized the opportunity and grabbed the other one, removing Marinette's transformation completely.

"Give it to me," he said. "Or I'll take it by force. You're a sweet girl, and I'd hate to put you in harm's way."

"Let go of her!" Chat Noir shouted.

"Give me the earring, Marinette."

"I'm sorry," Marinette whispered.

Hawkmoth smiled. "Look at your hero," he told them. "Watch her fall."

"Catch, kitty!"

"No!" Hawkmoth cried as Marinette tossed the earring at her partner. He dropped the one earring he had and when he let go of Marinette to reach for the one she threw, Marinette snatched the pin from his suit and scrambled out of the way.

Chat Noir caught the earring and Gabriel suddenly stood before them.

He stood up, looking at his arms as if he was hoping the detransformation wasn't real.

Marinette glared at him as she pinned the butterfly clip to her own shirt. "Hello, Nooroo."

"You're not master --"

"He's not your holder anymore. And he will never be ever again." She cradled the purple kwami as she threw angry glares at Gabriel. "Hold him down, we don't want Mayura sending help just yet."

"Of course," Queen Bee said, throwing out her top and tying Gabriel down.

"Nooroo, eat this," Marinette said, handing the kwami a cookie that would've been given to Tikki. 

A swarm of butterflies swirled around Marinette when she called Nooroo to transform and when it left, someone else stood before them.

"The drawing," Queen Bee muttered, noticing the single earring on the ground and a single purple butterfly hovering around her hand. The staff in her hand was really a little taller than her, and a bright gem at the top glowed brilliantly before mellowing.

"Who are you?" Queen Bee asked. "You're going to have to give a name, you know."

"Mmm," she looked at the butterfly fluttering around her hand, the intricate silver-like lines on its deep violet wings. "Pretty butterfly," she to it, "Belle Papillon."

She walked towards Gabriel, gently knocking the floor of the Eiffel Tower with the staff with each step. The sound it made echoed violently. She knelt down in front of Gabriel and narrowed her eyes. "Did you really think I was just going to _hand over_ my miraculous?" she asked.

"You destroyed the only miraculous that can fix another miraculous! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"That's not true and you know it. You are going to fetch me Mayura's miraculous. You are going to bring it back to me. Either you accept, or I akumatize you and I force you to do it the way you forced nearly all of Paris to do your bidding. It's your choice."

"You'll never get it. You'd need a small army to even reach her."

The charged butterfly flew around her hand in circles. "Oh, I planned for that as well. Did you really think we came here unprepared, Gabriel? We made room for nearly everything. So, again, either you accept or I forcefully akumatize you, and you know in your head and in your heart that you will never be able to fight me getting in your head."

Gabriel glared at her. "Never."

"I'm going to give you one last chance. You will be my greatest champion, Gabriel. I will give you all the gifts you need to acquire Mayura's miraculous. I will provide you with enough to keep her busy long enough for you to take the miraculous. Accept, and I will not tell a soul who Hawkmoth truly is."

She leaned closer. "You wouldn't want your son to find out what you've been doing behind his back, would you? You know hed never forgive you. All of Paris will turn their back on you. You will have failed in making your wish and you will have failed in maintaining your name. So, I ask one last time. Are you prepared to be my greatest champion?"

Gabriel glanced around, noticing that Chat Noir and Carapace were missing.

"Look at me! You know what this miraculous is capable of and you _know_ that I know how to access its true potential. So don't make me force you, because I can either make you my greatest champion, or I can make you my most obedient slave."

"I'll do it."

"Good choice. No one will find out who Hawkmoth was." And with that, she allowed the butterfly to enter the purple broach that Gabriel wore.

She stood up and stepped back. "Let go of him," she told Queen Bee.

A purple butterfly appeared over her unmasked eyes and over Gabriel's face. "Gladiator, you already know my name. I will give you the power you need to get me the miraculous I require. In return, I will keep your secret."

"Yes, Papillon."

Queen Bee and Rena Rouge stumbled backwards the familiar purple wave washed over Gabriel, leaving a man in a simple suit in his place. The suit was a deep blue and seemed to make Gabriel invisible from certain angles. His face was unchanged, except his eyes, which seemed slightly lifeless. He looked like a soldier, awaiting orders.

Belle Papillon pointed her staff in the direction of the Agreste mansion. "Go and get me that miraculous. I'll send you an army soon."

"Ready to address the city?" Carapace asked, having returned.

"The whole city is watching you, some from their TV sets," Chat Noir added. "Where is he?"

"I sent him on his way. Let's go see about our army."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARE YOU PREPARED FOR PART 2 OF THE FINAL HOEDOWN THROWDOWN SHOWDOWN? BECAUSE I'M NOT.
> 
> it'll be on its way soon enough. Guess what I'm listening to while editing the upcoming chapter >_<
> 
> grab your tissues and comforters, folks, the dynasty is about to break up O.O


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> miraculous jewels trade hands  
> mayura goes down  
> marinette very nearly dies 
> 
> i die looping Dynasty

"I am Ladybug, or I was. I no longer have my miraculous, and I need help to get it back. We can't do this on our own. Paris is _our_ city, and we need to fight together! Hawkmoth is gone, but there is one more who needs to go. I need an army. I realise that I am asking all of you to accept a little butterfly that has previously caused you grief, but I'm not here to make villains or victims out of you. I'm here to make you my champions. To give you gifts so that you can help your heroes save Paris. I am not Hawkmoth, so I will not force anyone to accept these gifts, but I stand here and I ask you: will you fight for Paris?"

At first, the people gathered around the Eiffel Tower remained silent as they stared up at the newcomer and the heroes beside her. She didn't blame them. The last person who held a butterfly miraculous went about creating villains.

Then Ivan stepped forward. Ivan, who was the first person to get akumatized. Ivan stepped forward.

"I accept! For Paris, and for Ladybug!"

One by one, the people gathered shouted their assent and acceptance. The heroes standing at the Eiffel Tower smiled.

Belle Papillon raised her staff and brought it down hard. A swarm of violet butterflies flew across the city, to whoever accepted one.

As one, the purple outline of a butterfly appeared on each person's face.

"I am Belle Papillon. Will you accept these gifts, my champions, and fight for your city?"

"Yes, Papillon," they chorused.

Like an ocean, the purple wave rippled through the streets until nearly everyone had taken on their akumatized forms, this time as an army of heroes.

"Go and fight," she said, not needing to shout any longer.

"What do you need us for?" Carapace joked. "You have a whole army now."

"I do, but Nathalie can turn them against me. I need you four down there, holding off the ones she takes until I can get them back. Gabriel will lure her out into the open and hopefully, we will get her miraculous too."

"You'll need to look after this."

They turned around to see Lila holding out the one earring.

Belle Papillon took it in silence.

"Let me help," Lila said. "And if I don't, you'll know and you can retract your akuma."

"I don't send akuma. Those are sent with evil intentions to create villains. But, I suppose you are right."

"Marinette, you can't be serious," Rena Rouge said.

"We need all the help we can get, and things will look brighter if we have two illusionists on our side. Lila is right, if she even thinks of swapping sides, I'll know and I'll be able to strip her of the gifts."

She caught one of the white butterflies and closed her fist around it, and when she opened it, a violet butterfly sat on her palm. "Welcome to the heroes' side, Volpina."

She suddenly stilled. "Mayura is out in the open. Go and keep her victims at bay. Volpina, I have a special task for you."

* * *

She watched from between the beams as some of the people Mayura had turned attacked the illusion of her. Volpina played her pipe again and another version walked out to greet them. She sent new butterflies to reclaim her champions from her hiding spot.

"Well done, Volpina."

It went on like that for what seemed like forever, until suddenly, everyone stopped. Cautiously, Belle Papillon emerged from her spot to greet Gabriel, who simply handed her a brooch.

Rena Rouge returned as well, holding on to Nathalie the way she previously did Lila. 

"Well done, Gladiator," Belle Papillon said, taking the miraculous. She raised the staff and slowly, all the butterflies she had released came back to her, pure white. Carapace and Queen Bee took to the streets to guide the citizens back to their homes. Chat Noir stood near Gabriel, glaring at him as he aimed his staff at him, ready to attack.

Marinette placed the butterfly miraculous in the box Rena Rouge handed her after promising Nooroo that she would return him to his friends. Then she pinned the peacock miraculous in its place.

"Are you sure about this, Marinette? The miraculous is damaged."

"I have to. I need to fix the earring, and the only way I can do that is to feed off the remaining power from the one. It's the miraculous of creation, you know," she said with a smile.

"Fine," Rena Rouge said. "Good luck to you."

Like with Nooroo, Marinette spoke kindly to the royal blue kwami and fed it a cookie before calling it to transform her.

Nathalie laughed. "You don't know how to use the miraculous."

Marinette narrowed her masked eyes at Nathalie. "Don't I?" she asked, closing her fist around the single earring. When she opened it again, there were two earrings.

The sound of a scuffle caught her attention, and she and Rena Rouge looked at Gabriel in time to see him snatch the miraculous from Marinette's open palm. Nathalie broke out of Rena Rouge's grasp and snatched the brooch from Marinette. While Rena Rouge tried to get it from her, Marinette launched herself at Gabriel.

"No!"

She ran full force into an impenetrable barrier.

She took a few steps back and tried again, but the barrier had vanished. Despite not having her miraculous, Marinette managed to knock Gabriel down. "What did you do?" she demanded. " _What did you do_?!"

Gabriel let go of a ring and a pair of earrings to smile at Marinette, who had her knee at his throat. "Why, I made my wish."

"No! What did you wish for? Tell me, or I'll let Chat Noir kill you!"

"Marinette. . ."

Marinette looked up to see Adrien looking around him in slight fear.

"No no no no no no."

Marinette abandoned Gabriel to catch Adrien as he stumbled. "No no no no, I didn't plan for this! Adrien, stop it. Look at me, damnit!"

Rena Rouge grabbed the peacock miraculous from a stunned Nathalie and shoved it into the second box.

Queen Bee froze outside the school. "Marinette. . ." she murmured, then louder, "we need to go, Shellhead!"

Carapace and Queen Bee arrived at the Eiffel Tower to a sight they wished they could wake up from.

Gabriel had never looked paler in his life as he stared at Marinette and his son.

Nathalie had sunk to the floor in shock.

Carapace went over to Rena Rouge and the second she came into contact with him, she tore her gaze away and wrapped her arms around him, hoping maybe he could make the nightmare end.

"Adrien!" Queen Bee cried, sitting in front of Marinette, who was hunched over the blond, shaking. "He'll be okay, Marinette. He'll be okay, you'll see. Call an ambulance, you f--!" Queen Bee stopped. Neither Marinette nor Adrien liked her swearing, so she wouldn't.

Nathalie was the one who recovered to pull out her phone and walk away, talking.

"He's gone," Marinette sobbed. "I didn't save him."

"Marinette . . . you're Ladybug, you can fix this, okay?"

Marinette shook her head. "I can't. I can't fix this one."

She looked down at Adrien and brushed his hair aside. "I can't do anything without my partner."

* * *

Marinette never left his side. Every time Gabriel walked into the hospital room, she snarled at him, reminding him that it was his fault they were in this situation.

Nathalie tried once, and Marinette hissed so viciously at her, Nathalie left in fear.

Adrien hadn't moved once in the week since they took Gabriel's miraculous.

"Nettie, you need to go to school too."

"I don't need to do anything. There's nothing I can do. I did everything . . . we made room for Lila getting akumatized, we made room for Nathalie using the peacock miraculous again, we made room for people not accepting the butterflies, damnit we made room for _everything_ he did!" Marinette slouched back in the chair and grabbed Adrien's hand again. "But not this. I didn't ever think that we could win and lose at the same time."

"Marinette," Chloé said, sitting down in the chair on the other side of Adrien's bed. "We miss you at school. Everyone. Alya and Nino especially. They sit together now, until you'll go back. Come on, maybe a bit of normalcy will make you feel better."

"Normalcy?" Marinette repeated. "Adrien is _dying_. Two doors down, his mother is in recovery. How can anything be normal, Chloé? It's inevitable, Gabriel made his wish. Bringing his wife back, at the cost of his son. How can you say things will be normal? How can I sit there and look at his empty seat, knowing that I -- that we failed?"

"Marinette, you can't blame yourself. You're sixteen years old, you're still a child. You did your best, we all did."

"But it wasn't enough," Marinette mumbled, holding Adrien's hand up to her cheek.

Machines began to beep loudly and there was loud shouting outside. Marinette looked up frantically, only to see that it wasn't Adrien's. Chloé got up at opened the door to see about three doctors rush past, followed by four nurses.

"She's failing! She's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Hi."

"Adrien!"

Chloé turned around to see Marinette hugging Adrien tightly. Adrien turned to see Chloé. "Promise you won't stop looking after my Marinette."

Chloé bit her lip and nodded, the fact that it was all over finally dawning on her.

Marinette sat up. "No, you're not going anywhere. You can't. I won't let you. I need you to stay here. I need --"

"Marinette."

"What?"

"I love you."

"Shut up. You can't leave me."

"Don't forget that you're Ladybug, with or without the mask. You can do anything, Marinette."

"Stop it. You're alive now, okay? Please don't go." Marinette closed her eyes, pressing Adrien's hand to her lips.

Adrien reached up with his other hand and tucked Marinette's hair behind her ear. "Smile, princess. We won. I love you."

The steady beeping was replaced by a long single sound.

"No. No, Adrien, wake up! Open your eyes! Look at me!"

Doctors rushed into the room, determined to save their patient. One of them tried to get Marinette to leave. She screamed and kicked, but she never let go of Adrien's hand.

Chloé wrapped her arms around Marinette and tugged. She couldn't tell Marinette to let go, because that would be like setting it in stone. Eventually, Marinette's grip slackened and Chloé pulled her into the doorway.

Chloé closed her eyes and turned her head away from the scene before her. The sounds Marinette made ripped through her like knives. Not even in her nightmares had Marinette ever cried like she did now.

She still tried to get back into the room, but she had neither the strength nor the bravery to break out of Chloé's firm grip. Chloé didn't try to shush Marinette -- it wouldn't work. Silent tears fell from her usually bright blue eyes as she held on to the person who had become her closest friend. The person who was in pieces . . . broken beyond repair.

Eventually, Marinette stilled and the two of them sank to the floor across the closed door. Marinette curled up, burying her face in Chloé's shoulder.

"We have to tell Nino and Alya," Chloé said, her voice hoarse, as if she had been the one screaming her lungs out.

Marinette didn't say anything. How could she? What could she say?

It was over.

Everything was over. 

* * *

The teachers were beginning to worry. No one had heard from Adrien or Marinette in a week. Adrien's father had not been in his home, nor did he answer any calls. Marinette's parents hadn't seen their daughter in a week.

Chloé came to school for about an hour every day before she left without informing anyone.

Alya and Nino -- who sat in Marinette's seat -- had not spoken to anyone in a week.

Following the introduction of a new hero called Belle Papillon, Lila returned to the class, usually taking Chloé's vacant seat. Sabrina didn't mind, she and Lila spoke to each other nicely. She was the first person to speak to Lila after the girl confessed that she had been creating tales all along.

There was a sombre mood over the entire classroom.

None of them knew why Alya and Nino kept silent.

None of them knew why Chloé disappeared or where she went.

None of them knew why Lila kept to herself most of the time, only speaking when spoken to.

None of them knew why, when Ladybug and Chat Noir were mentioned, Alya, Nino, and Chloé walked away.

None of them knew where Marinette and Adrien were.

None of them knew anything.

And it was beginning to worry them.

Ms Bustier looked at her class. Some of them were watching Alya and Nino carefully. Some of them were watching Lila suspiciously. Ms Bustier looked at the two empty seats in front of Alya and Nino. She was about to ask -- for the umpteenth time -- if they knew where Adrien and Marinette were, when the door slowly opened.

The sight shocked nearly the entire classroom.

Chloé's hair had never been more awry in its natural curls, and she had never looked plainer in the simple jeans and t-shirt she had thrown on before going to see Marinette.

Marinette had never looked worse in her life. Her clothes were rumpled from spending her nights sleeping in a chair. Her short hair was terribly knotted, and she barely lifted her feet to walk.

Both of them looked like they hadn't stopped crying, and it looked like Chloé was supporting Marinette completely.

"Where have you been?!" Ms Bustier exclaimed, looking at Marinette. She glanced behind the two girls. "And where is Adrien? I assumed you'd be together."

"He's gone," Marinette whispered.

"Sorry?"

Marinette lifted her head from the floor and spoke directly to Nino. "He's gone," she said, a little louder.

"What do you mean? Where's he gone?"

For the first time since they defeated Hawkmoth, Nino spoke. "You're lying," he choked out.

"Nino . . ." Alya said, grabbing his hand.

The look on Chloé's face confirmed it, and Nino stood up and walked to Marinette. "It's not your fault," he told her softly, pulling her into a hug.

Marinette let out a choked sob and held on to Nino.

"What is going on?" Ms Bustier carefully asked, dragging her gaze from Alya, who sat frozen, tears brimming in her eyes, to Nino and Marinette, who seemed to be supporting each other, to Chloé, who looked like she had been crying for weeks straight.

"He's gone," Lila repeated as realisation dawned on her, having been the only other person present. She hadn't said a word about it, despite being witness. It wasn't her story to tell. But as she looked at the four superheroes, she realised that they _couldn't_ say it. "Adrien is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY


	29. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M STILL CRYING
> 
> here have the epilogue today too

The funeral was a quiet one.

Marinette had gone back to the way she was before she had run away to Chloé. She hasn't said a word, not even to Chloé, who tried her hardest to get through to Marinette.

Nino seemed unable to comprehend the fact that his best friend was gone. Alya stayed by his side, being to Nino what Chloé was to Marinette.

True to her word, Marinette did not tell a single person who Hawkmoth was. Due to the fact that her face had been unmasked as Belle Papillon, people soon figured out that it was Marinette, and that Marinette was Ladybug. They tried to talk to her, some to thank her, some to apologise for her loss, but she wouldn't speak to anyone. She simply stood there while the world went on around her.

That's just the way it happens, isn't it? The world continues to spin and turn around you, even if you want it to stop and grieve with you.

Marinette didn't even have the energy to glare at Gabriel anymore. She couldn't look at Emilie, knowing that she had been unwillingly traded for her son.

"You'll be okay?" Chloé asked.

Marinette gave her a single nod. She'd been doing it for a month now, she could look after herself in a graveyard. Chloé turned the key and the car's engine faded to silence.

Marinette wouldn't even get out to learn to drive herself places. She was once again entirely dependant on Chloé.

"Come on," Chloé said, getting out of the car and walking around to open Marinette's door. "I'll come back to the car once I get you there, okay?"

Marinette nodded again and let Chloé walked her through between the stone grave markers.

Marinette sat down on the grass in front of the headstone. Flowers and blown candles sat around the base of the stone, sprinkled with thank you cards in the handwriting of little children.

 _Adrien Agreste_  
_2003 -- 2019_

 _A beloved son, friend, and_  
_Hero of Paris_

_Thank you, Chat Noir_

  
Marinette's eyes filled with tears, and they fell silently while she sat unmoving. She couldn't cry anymore, she didn't have the energy.

"Stay," she mumbled when Chloé turned to leave.

Chloé nodded. "Of course, Nettie."

Chloé stood a little away, giving Marinette the privacy she wanted without actually leaving. She noticed Emilie walking towards the grave, alone.

Emilie stopped when she saw the girl sitting on the ground. She hasn't expected to still see people visiting her son's grave. She noticed Chloé leaning against the tree nearby, watching her carefully.

Chloé pushed away from the tree and crouched beside her blue haired friend. "Marinette," she said, nodding her head to Emilie when Marinette looked up.

Marinette turned to look over her shoulder. She did not smile a greeting, nor give any indication that she had seen Emilie. She simply turned back to look at the headstone.

"Marinette," Emilie said as she approached. "We haven't properly met."

Marinette didn't say anything.

"She doesn't usually speak much," Chloé said. "To anyone."

Marinette stood up and faced the woman. Her kind eyes stared at Marinette and the girl had to look away.

Those were Adrien's eyes.

"I don't know much about you, but you've done a great deal for my family. He would've wanted you to have it."

Emilie took Marinette's hand and pressed something into it.

"What you do with it is up to you, but I know Adrien would have given it to you if he were here today."

Marinette uncurled her fingers to see the silver ring Adrien usually wore.

Chloé watched as Marinette reached into her pocket and pulled out the bag containing the earrings she couldn't bear to put back on.

"What are you going to do?" Chloé asked, watching Marinette empty the bag into her other hand.

Marinette looked at the smiling picture of Adrien on the stone, then at the miraculous in her hands.

"I'm going to make a wish."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, what a journey. 
> 
> Endgame has finally come to (lol) an end. I hope you all enjoyed reading the book as much as I've enjoyed writing it (heartbreak and all included) 
> 
> I love to hear from you regarding what you think of it (keyboard smashes are acceptable feelings) so don't hesitate to drop me a comment or two. I have other Miraculous Ladybug fics archived somewhere, so you might see one or two in a couple months, or a second Harry Potter fic from me. (there is more -- and worse -- available on my Wattpad under the same username)
> 
> Also, how many of you would take a glance at a BBC Merlin fanfiction if I got down to one?
> 
> Anywho, this is me, saying adieu.
> 
> Thank you to all of you who have read, left votes and comments, and generally made me very happy. I'll see ya'll in my next masterpiece ~~disaster~~


End file.
